Hospital Harm Project

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October 17, 2024 — This project is a partnership between CIHI and Healthcare Excellence Canada (HEC) aimed at answering the question “How often do patients experience harm in hospital?”

CIHI developed the Hospital Harm measure, which looks at unintended occurrences of harm in acute care hospitals that could have been potentially prevented by implementing evidence-informed practices.

HEC compiled the Hospital Harm Improvement Resource, which links measurement and improvement by providing evidence-informed practices that will support patient safety improvement efforts.

Through this collaboration, decision-makers, hospital executives, clinicians and policy-makers have access to important information on patient safety in acute care hospitals and how to improve it.

National results of the Hospital Harm measure are reported annually. While at this time CIHI has no plans to develop Hospital Harm into a comparable indicator, we will continue to work with stakeholders to ensure the information is helpful for improving patient safety in Canada.