Back to Health system performance
October 19, 2023 — This project is a partnership between CIHI and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI, now Healthcare Excellence Canada) 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.
CPSI 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.
Featured material
Data tables
See updated results for categories and types of harm in these data tables.
Infographic
Explore the latest numbers on patient harm in our updated infographic: Patient harm in Canadian hospitals? It does happen.
Hospital Harm Improvement Resource
Use this resource which contains information to support patient safety improvement efforts.
Additional material
Report
This report discusses the measure of potentially preventable harm in hospitals with an overview of the status of these patient safety events in Canada.
Methodology notes
Visit CIHI’s Indicator Library to find out how to calculate the Hospital Harm measure.
Frequently asked questions
Read the FAQ related to the Hospital Harm indicator, including information on indicator methodology and the improvement resource.