What Will It Take to Make Healthcare Safer?

Patients are harmed too often by the care they receive today. The authors discuss a recent large study of harm, its results in terms of harm incidence, and distribution, and compare these with prior studies of harm in hospitals. The authors suggest what these results imply in terms of improving the safety of care, and how to accelerate it. They go over the roles of boards, and leadership including the c-suite. They discuss metrics and achieving sustainable results. They also evaluate the role of culture, and the future potential of artificial intelligence to improve safety. Overall, there is great room for improvement, but achieving it will require addressing all these areas.