Reporting raises the level of transparency in the organization and promotes a culture of safety. The opportunity to collaborate with a patient safety expert in The Joint Commission’s Sentinel Event Unit of the Office of Quality and Patient Safety. The Joint Commission can provide support and expertise during the review of a sentinel event. Organizations benefit from self-reporting in the following ways: Each accredited organization is strongly encouraged, but not required, to report sentinel events to The Joint Commission. Such events are called 'sentinel' because they signal the need for immediate investigation and response.

Severe temporary harm and intervention required to sustain lifeĪn event can also be considered sentinel event even if the outcome was not death, permanent harm, severe temporary harm and intervention required to sustain life.

The Sentinel Event Policy explains how The Joint Commission partners with health care organizations that have experienced a serious patient safety event to protect the patient, improve systems, and prevent further harm.Ī sentinel event is a Patient Safety Event that reaches a patient and results in any of the following: Careful investigation and analysis of Patient Safety Events (events not primarily related to the natural course of the patient’s illness or underlying condition), as well as evaluation of corrective actions, is essential to reduce risk and prevent patient harm. The Joint Commission adopted a formal Sentinel Event Policy in 1996 to help hospitals that experience serious adverse events improve safety and learn from those sentinel events.

Define sentinel event