Hospital groups urge Supreme Court to review Patient Safety Act case

The AHA and Federation of American Hospitals today urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Florida Supreme Court decision that would thwart Congress’ intent that the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 protect health care providers’ reports to patient safety organizations from public disclosure. In a friend-of-the-court brief supporting Southern Baptist Hospital of Florida’s request that the court review the decision, the organizations underscore two points. “First, the Patient Safety Act – and its privilege for reports to patient safety organizations – is a critical tool for improving patient safety,” the brief states. “Second, the Florida Supreme Court’s decision, if allowed to stand, will thwart Congress’s goals in passing the Act. Nationwide, over 2,200 hospitals participate in patient safety organizations. The Court should grant the writ and reassure these hospitals and other providers that they can report, study, and learn from errors and near-errors without fear of public disclosure – just as Congress intended.”