Patient Safety Reporting Initiative, NJDHSS

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View of Operating Room In 2004, the New Jersey Patient Safety Act (P.L. 2004, c9) was signed into law. The statute was designed to improve patient safety in hospitals and other health care facilities by establishing a medical error reporting system.

Rather than seeking to place blame, the system promotes comprehensive reporting of adverse patient events, systematic analysis of their causes, and creation of solutions that will improve health care quality and save lives.

This site is designed to help health care facilities develop strong patient safety programs and fulfill the law’s mandatory reporting requirements.

Helpful Links for Consumers about Patient Safety:

Patient Safety Reporting System: 2009 Summary Report [pdf 1.8mb] reviews the fifth year of reporting and Patient Safety activities. The report summarizes 2009 reporting in comparison to the previous years. Along with general acute care hospitals this report also includes data from comprehensive rehabilitation, psychiatric, and special hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and state psychiatric hospitals.

Presentation to the NJ AASC June 2011 [10mb] is now available on the Training Materials page.

The new online reporting system is now available only to the general acute care hospitals and specialty hospitals. For any RCAs that are due for events previously submitted using the paper-based system, the RCA must also be submitted using the paper-based system. The online reporting system is available at: www.nj.gov/health/ps/report/

* All other reporting facilities please continue to use the paper-based system.

The online reporting system training presentation is now posted on the Training Materials page.

Event: Patients have developed Stage III and IV Pressure Ulcers associated with a device (such as BiPAP, tracheostomy) related to the failure to perform a full body assessment, including areas of skin covered with a device.

Facility Strategy: Prevention strategies include full body assessment, including areas of skin hidden by a device, use of prophylactic dressings to decrease pressure and friction on the underlying area and frequent re-assessment (remove: and documentation) of the need for the device. There should be appropriate documentation and supervisory oversight.

Previous Prevention Strategies

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Last Modified: Monday, 06-Jun-11 13:15:21