The Louisiana Alliance for Patient Safety (LAPS) Patient Safety Organization (PSO) is a component of the Louisiana Hospital Association and is a federally-listed Patient Safety Organization with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 authorized the creation of PSOs; the ACA in 2010 mandated hospital participation. PSOs encourage clinicians and healthcare organizations to voluntarily report and share quality and patient-safety information without fear of legal discovery. PSOs help healthcare professionals learn from data on patient-safety events to prevent them from happening in the future. A healthcare provider can obtain the confidentiality and privilege protections of the Patient Safety Act by working with a federally-listed PSO. In 2019, the LAPS PSO achieved AHRQ three-year, federally-designated PSO relisting.
Mission & Vision:
The mission of the LAPS PSO is to conduct patient-safety activities in order to support PSO members in improving patient safety and the quality of healthcare delivery. The vision of the LAPS PSO is to foster the ability of member hospitals and health systems and other healthcare organizations to provide patient-centered healthcare that is safe, effective, efficient, and equitable.
Benefits of PSO Participation:
- PSO’s experts review safety events in a confidential and protected manner;
- Providers proactively improve patient safety by pooling resources and sharing ideas with other PSO participants;
- With a large number of providers reporting events, the PSO has the ability to aggregate sufficient data to develop insights that would not otherwise be available;
- Providers are afforded strong federal confidentiality and privilege protections regarding the patient-safety work product, which is information and data assembled and developed when conducting quality and safety analyses within a PSO;
- Providers that participate in a PSO demonstrate accountability to patients, the public, and public officials for safety improvements; and
- Since Jan. 1, 2017, it has been mandatory for hospitals with more than 50 beds to join a PSO or an acceptable equivalent, such as a Hospital Improvement Innovation Network (HIIN), which recently ended in 2020. Providers participating in the LAPS PSO will meet this requirement.
Want to Learn More About the LAPS PSO and Why You Should Join?
What is a PSO?
A PSO collects, aggregates and analyzes patient safety events that are confidentially reported by hospitals and other healthcare providers. By encouraging voluntary and confidential reporting of serious adverse events, a PSO can facilitate a shared-learning approach that supports effective healthcare improvements.
The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (Patient Safety Act) authorized the creation of a nationwide network of PSOs. This was in response to increasing concern about the lack of patient safety event reporting, which in turn prevented the collection of data to make significant patient care improvements.
By providing both privilege and confidentiality, PSOs provide a secure environment where clinicians and healthcare organizations can collect, aggregate, and analyze data, thus improving quality by identifying and reducing the risks and hazards associated with patient care.
How to Join:
Healthcare organizations that want to participate in the Louisiana Alliance for Patient Safety PSO are required to sign a Participation and Confidentiality Agreement, as well as a Business Associate Agreement (BAA). The LAPS PSO charges a reasonable annual participation fee. For more information or to receive a pricing quote for your organization, contact LAPS PSO Executive Director/Medical Director Dr. Flip Roberts or 225-928-0026.