The HCAC National Quality and Safety Goals are targeted improvements intended to be wide spread, easy to implement procedures and systems in hospitals and primary health care centers regardless of their accreditation status or intent. These measures are meant to bring focus to patient safety priorities at all health care institutions, in addition to giving national attention to finding better ways to protect patients. The goals focus on problematic areas in health care and specifically in hospitals — such as medication safety and preventing health-care-related infections — and are meant to help hospitals use systems and techniques to further improve safety during patient care experiences.
One of the responsibilities of the HCAC Board of Directors is to prepare and publicize these goals every two years. The HCAC provides guidance on how to effectively comply with each goal’s requirements. Health care facilities successfully meeting compliance with all the criteria for all goals are awarded certification.
The Specific Intent of the NQSGs
- To develop a common language for patient safety in the community; health care and public
- To identify the key patient safety issues in the health care, from both the patient and professional perspective
- To identify, promote and support the implementation of patient safety and quality of care best practices and make them widely available to the health care community.
- 2009
- 2010
- 2011
- 2012
- 2013
- 2014
- 2016
- 2018
- 2021
- 2024