ABSTRACT
This chapter examines regulatory efforts to inculcate a safety culture and to design safer systems. A patient safety culture proceeds from the premise that health care involves risk, the potential for error cannot be totally eliminated since people and systems are fallible, and therefore they must learn from the things that go wrong' in order to prevent future incidents. While there are no clear guidelines on how managers might go about embedding such desirable attitudes and practices, especially since these are likely to require systematic and continued effort in a whole of organization' approach, some strategies are discussed later in this chapter in relation to patient safety. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) commission's reviews of the scientific literature and produces evidence reports and technology assessments including an influential analysis of patient safety practices, and the Joint Commission website offers an online resource on quality and safety practices.
