WHO, Joint Commission mark World Patient Safety Day

Editor's Note

In partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), The Joint Commission and The Joint Commission and Joint Commission International (JCI) invite organizations, health professionals, patients, and their advocates to recognize World Patient Safety Day Tuesday, September 17.

This year’s theme is “improving diagnosis for patient safety.” This theme “energizes us,” reads a September 10 statement from The Joint Commission, adding that 16% of preventable patient harm results from delayed, wrong, or missed diagnoses.

"Many confounding factors contribute to these stark numbers, such as biases, staff shortages, and errors in judgement," the announcement continues. "Despite the complexity of modern healthcare, we have a duty to our patients to make the right diagnosis in time, every time. Now is the time to, 'Get it right, make it safe!'"

The announcement also details how The Joint Commissions' HELP agenda for addressing safety challenges touches on diagnostic safety. For example, the H stands for healthcare equity, and social determinants of health (SDOH) have a significant impact on whether patients receive correct diagnoses. Standards introduced last year aim to address these disparities. Other details in the full release include the appointment of Dr. Neelam Dhingra, MBBS, MD, as vice president and chief patient safety officer of JCI, as well as information on a video and live panel discussion related to World Patient Safety Day.