NQF Begins Work on Standardized
Patient Safety Taxonomy
May 28, 2004 - The steering committee of the National
Quality Forum's Patient Safety Taxonomy project met May 20
to examine existing taxonomies and identify a framework and
criteria on which to evaluate them. The purpose of the project
is to develop a standardized patient safety taxonomy to help
collect and aggregate data across patient safety reporting
systems. The committee is co-chaired by David Classen, M.D.,
and Don Detmer, M.D.
The committee began by discussing the recent Institute of
Medicine (IOM) report titled Patient Safety: Achieving
a New Standard of Care. In the report the IOM supports
the idea of a standardized patient safety taxonomy. Additionally,
it proposes a set of domain areas for a common patient safety
reporting format. The committee widely supported the ideas
and proposals in the IOM report. Committee members agreed
to use the proposals identified in the IOM report as the foundation
of the taxonomy that they would develop. After discussing
the report and existing taxonomies, the committee agreed not
to focus their work on one specific health care setting. In
addition, they agreed that a taxonomy should allow for the
designation of primary and secondary events in cases where
there was more than one significant factor precipitating the
adverse event. Committee members also supported the idea that
the taxonomy should allow for follow-up and case assessment.
The committee's taxonomy will also be consistent with the
SNOMED CT medical reference terminology and allow for any
new terms to be cross walked into other supplemental terminologies
(e.g., ICD 9/10 CM E-codes).
Information:
Jeff Patyk, Staff Specialist
AAMC Health Care Affairs
jpatyk@aamc.org
(202) 828-0498
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