The National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) are annual objectives designed to prevent common medical errors and reduce the risk of patient harm in healthcare facilities. These goals focus on persistent and widespread safety problems across various care settings. By targeting these specific issues, the NPSGs serve as a framework for improving patient outcomes and ensuring consistent safety standards.
The Role of The Joint Commission
The authority behind the National Patient Safety Goals is The Joint Commission (TJC), an independent organization that serves as the primary accrediting body for thousands of U.S. healthcare organizations. TJC established the NPSG program in 2003 in response to the high prevalence of preventable medical errors. The organization identifies, develops, and mandates these specific safety requirements for accredited facilities.
TJC uses a data-driven process to determine which goals are included and updated each year. A panel of patient safety experts, known as the Patient Safety Advisory Group, provides input based on clinical experience and evidence. This expert group works with TJC staff to pinpoint systemic failures, often identified through the analysis of severe safety events known as sentinel events.
The goals focus on problems that pose the greatest risk of injury or death to patients in accredited settings. The continuous review process allows the goals to remain current and address emerging challenges in the field of healthcare.
Categories of Patient Risk
The goals target high-risk, high-volume failures by grouping them into measurable categories of patient risk, including:
- Improving the accuracy of patient identification to prevent wrong-patient errors. Providers must use at least two distinct identifiers, such as name and date of birth, before administering treatments.
- Enhancing medication safety, as adverse drug events are common. Practices include labeling all medications not immediately administered and requiring medication reconciliation to prevent harmful drug interactions.
- Addressing risks associated with infection prevention, which requires adherence to hand hygiene guidelines.
- Reducing patient harm from falls and pressure injuries by identifying at-risk individuals and implementing preventative protocols.
- Preventing mistakes in surgery through practices like the Universal Protocol, which requires marking the correct surgical site and conducting a mandatory “time-out.”
Connecting Goals to Accreditation
Adherence to the National Patient Safety Goals is mandatory for any healthcare organization seeking to obtain or maintain accreditation from The Joint Commission. TJC uses the NPSGs to gauge a facility’s commitment to safety standards during regular surveys and inspections. Compliance is a foundational component of demonstrating a safe operating environment.
TJC surveyors conduct unannounced, on-site reviews to evaluate the implementation of the goals in clinical settings. These inspections assess whether the facility has integrated the safety requirements into its daily workflow and redesigned systemic processes. Tying the goals to accreditation drives mandatory, measurable change across the healthcare landscape.
A facility’s accreditation status directly impacts its ability to receive reimbursement from federal programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Making compliance with the NPSGs a prerequisite creates a powerful incentive for organizations to prioritize patient safety. This mechanism ensures the goals translate into required performance metrics that affect a facility’s financial viability.