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Principles feature in new Salzburg Statement which comes from a recent program held between Salzburg Global Seminar and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement

Earlier this year, the World Health Organization declared September 17 the first World Patient Day and presented it as an opportunity to speak up for patient safety.

A week or so beforehand, health leaders from across the world had met in Salzburg, Austria, at the request of Salzburg Global Seminar and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) to explore ways of improving the measurement of patient safety. The Lucian Leape Institute, an initiative of the IHI, led the convening and content curation.

Participants of Moving Measurement into Action: Designing Global Principles for Measuring Patient Safety agreed “that there is no single measure that allows all stakeholders in all settings to assess the past, current, and future safety of their system.” Participants agreed a system of measures must be carefully designed to assess the safety of patients throughout their health journey.

The conversations in Salzburg have helped establish eight global principles for the measurement of patient safety. They feature in a new Salzburg Statement on Moving Measurement into Action: Global Principles for Measuring Patient Safety, which Salzburg Global is launching alongside the IHI and the Lucian Leape Institute.

The eight principles are as follows:

• The purpose of measurement is to collect and disseminate knowledge that results in action and improvement.
• Effective measurement requires the full involvement of patients, families, and communities within and across the health system.
• Safety measurement must advance equity.
• Selected measures must illuminate an integrated view of the health system across the continuum of care and the entire trajectory of the patient’s health journey.
• Data should be collected and analyzed in real time to proactively identify and prevent harm as often as possible.
• Measurement systems, evidence, and practices must continuously evolve and adapt.
• The burden of measures collected and analyzed must be reduced.
• Stakeholders must intentionally foster a culture that is safe and just to fully optimize the value of measurement.

These principles, which are expanded upon in the statement, are a call to action for all stakeholders to reduce harm.

Patricia McGaffigan, RN, MS, CPPS, vice president, safety programs, at IHI, said, “To truly advance safety, it is critical that we apply meaningful measures that proactively assess risk and provide an accurate picture of day-to-day care.

“For too long, health care has lacked consistent standards for measuring the safety of care. These principles call for the creation of measures that can be applied across the continuum of care and across the globe, and be informed by the perspectives of all stakeholders.”

John Lotherington, a program director at Salzburg Global responsible for health and health care programs, said, "Twenty years ago, Salzburg Global was privileged to be in a position to convene a meeting which helped to shape the vital agenda around patient safety.

"We have been delighted now to work with the Lucian Leape Institute in the development of these principles to take patient safety to the next level. It is so crucial for patients, their families and loved ones, and everyone in health care working towards better, safer care."

Download the Statement as a PDF

View the Statement on Issuu

To submit your endorsement of the Salzburg Statement on Moving Measurement into Action: Global Principles for Measuring Patient Safety, please click here.