Patient Safety Monitoring in Acute Care in a Decentralized National Health Care System: Conceptual Framework and Initial Set of Actionable Indicators

Objectives Monitoring patient safety is critical for continuous quality improvement in acute care. We carried out a national project to identify a conceptual framework with core indicators that could be uniformly applied in the decentralized health system of Italy. Methods We used key international references to identify a framework with a core list of indicators and data sources for calculation in 4 hospitals in the Lombardy region. Two different data processing methods were applied: (a) centralized analysis of national databases and (b) decentralized data extraction and calculation using different hospital data available in Lombardy. Results Agreement was reached on a conceptual framework for patient safety monitoring in acute care, including structures, processes, and outcomes as vertical dimensions and health care needs as horizontal axes. We were able to compute 15 of 32 indicators through the application of a range of methods. The calculation of indicators using national databases was based on international standards. The consistency of the estimates obtained through the use of different methods and data sources seemed limited. Conclusions We successfully identified a conceptual framework for patient safety in acute care including actionable indicators that can be calculated routinely using different data sources at national, regional, and hospital levels. Further work is required to compare methods and understand whether a combination of strategies at national and local levels could be proven effective.