National Patient Safety Foundation Welcomes Betsy Lehman Center

The National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF), a central voice for patient safety since 1997, recently welcomed the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety and Medical Error Reduction as the newest member of the NPSF Stand Up for Patient Safety program. An independent agency within the Massachusetts Center for Health Information and Analysis, the Betsy Lehman Center is the first state agency to join the Stand Up program.

“Stand Up for Patient Safety member organizations continue to lead the way in creating measurable improvements in the safety and care of patients across the country,” said Tejal K. Gandhi, MD, MPH, CPPS, president of NPSF. “The Betsy Lehman Center’s focus on raising awareness of patient safety is very much aligned with the work of NPSF and the goals of other members of the Stand Up program.”

The Betsy Lehman Center was originally created in 2004 within the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Recent legislation re-established the center in December 2013 as an independent agency affiliated with the Center for Health Information and Analysis. The Center has a broad mandate to improve patient safety in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

“The Betsy Lehman Center is committed to working across the system with health care experts, stakeholders, consumers, and government to identify and break through barriers to better health care quality,” said Barbara Fain, executive director. “The Stand Up program will provide an important channel for us to accelerate our mission across the Commonwealth.”

Members of the Stand Up for Patient Safety program include hospitals, health systems, ambulatory care centers, physician practices, and other entities with an interest in advancing patient safety and reducing harm from medical error. For more information about the program, visit http://www.npsf.org/standup.