The National Patient Safety Foundation recently issued a sweeping report strongly supporting transparency in health care. Transparency not only is ethical, according to the report, but it promotes accountability, leads to fewer medical errors, increases patient satisfaction and lowers costs.
The foundation’s Lucian Leape Institute held roundtable discussions with a range of health-care stakeholders who defined transparency as “the free flow of information that is open to the scrutiny of others.” The report recommends greater transparency in four areas:
- between clinicians and patients;
- among clinicians within an organization (such as a medical group or hospital);
- between organizations; and
- between organizations and the public.
“If transparency were a medication, it would be a blockbuster, with billions of dollars in sales and accolades the world over,” the report, “Shining a Light: Safer Health Care Through Transparency,” concludes.
You can read the full report here. To learn more about transparency in specific situations, link to our blogs.