NQF Expands Serious Reportable Events List to Apply to Outpatient Care Settings

On June 13, 2011, the National Quality Forum (NQF) released an updated list of Serious Reportable Events (SREs) that have been expanded to apply to three new health care settings—office-based practices, ambulatory surgery centers, and long-term care/skilled nursing facilities—in addition to hospitals. The expansion is intended to improve patient safety through learning from events and making improvements that can be applied across organizations. The appeals period closes July 12, 2011. The 29 SREs are largely preventable errors and events resulting in death or serious injury, such as wrong-site surgery, serious pressure ulcers acquired post . . .