By Healthcare Facilities Today

Patient safety and financial stability are cited as two of the most important (and somewhat competing) issues facing hospitals today in a recent survey of hospital executives and risk managers.

The survey was conducted by insurance company AIG between Nov. 13 and Dec. 20, 2012, among 250 executives and 100 risk managers in hospitals across the U.S. 

The report detailing the survey findings, "Patient Safety; Hospital Risk: Perspectives of Hospital C-Suite and Risk Managers," reveals several challenges to ensuring patient safety, among them a lack of clear communication and coordination between hospital departments during patient transfer. 

The report also identifies some trends shaping patient safety. Most notable is the emphasis that will be placed on a public metric of patient satisfaction in the future. This metric will need to be clearly defined by all stakeholders and the reporting of it will need to be transparent, according to the report. 

But this transparency is worrisome to hospitals if the public is not educated on what the metrics mean – as such public reports could lead to a reduction in patient volume, and thus, reduced financial stability for the hospital, the report says.

The report also offers some solutions for how these competing objectives can be met, including the idea that they should be considered complementary goals. Medical errors can be very costly, thus improving patient safety saves money. 

Download the full report.