Which statement about Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs) is true?

Which statement about Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs) is true?

• A. They provide patient satisfaction surveys to hospitals.
• B. They license medical professionals.
• C. They collect and analyze reports of errors and near misses and can perform medical peer reviews.
• D. They fund new drug development.

Answer: (C)

Patient safety organizations are built to collect and analyze reports of errors and near misses to understand what went wrong and how to prevent it in the future. By examining these events, they can conduct or facilitate medical peer reviews to assess care processes and recommend improvements. This focus on reporting and peer review is what distinguishes PSOs from groups that license professionals or fund drug development—licensing is done by medical boards, and drug development funding comes from researchers, companies, or government programs. So, the true statement is that PSOs collect and analyze reports of errors and near misses and can perform medical peer reviews.

Patient safety organizations are built to collect and analyze reports of errors and near misses to understand what went wrong and how to prevent it in the future. By examining these events, they can conduct or facilitate medical peer reviews to assess care processes and recommend improvements. This focus on reporting and peer review is what distinguishes PSOs from groups that license professionals or fund drug development—licensing is done by medical boards, and drug development funding comes from researchers, companies, or government programs. So, the true statement is that PSOs collect and analyze reports of errors and near misses and can perform medical peer reviews.