The medical profession is governed by the well-known principle of ‘First, do no harm’. Nevertheless, this traditional dictum is not merely a cautionary piece of advice; it goes far beyond that. Prioritizing and investing in patient safety is not just morally correct, it’s also a financially sound business strategy with both direct and indirect returns that are difficult to quantify. Recently, unsettling accounts have emerged of extensive healthcare systems downsizing their safety teams and letting safety officers go in an effort to mitigate budget cuts. This not only poses potential safety risks, but it’s also an ineffective strategy for cost-saving. Put simply, delivering unsafe care has a hefty price. Like all other industries that carry high risk and complexity, healthcare either funds safety measures upfront, or ends up footing a significantly higher bill, along with the unbearable human cost, later on.
The cost benefits of investing in safety are multiple. Primarily, it leads to reduced adverse events and better patient outcomes—thus minimising unnecessary costs arising from avoidable re-admissions, elongated hospital stays, costly subsequent care, and potential malpractice suits. A particular study deduced that preventable adverse occurrences in hospitals cost America an astounding $17.1 billion annually. Globally, up to 12.6% of total health spending in affluent countries—approximately $878 billion annually—is consumed by unsafe care. It follows, then, that health systems which value patient safety inherently prioritise cost-saving.
Approaching safety via a total systems method allows healthcare organisations to assess how all components—including people, physical environment, technology, procedures, and policies—interact. This, in turn, empowers them to identify unsafe practices and improve their operation, thereby reducing redundancies and enhancing workflows to make them safer, more efficient, and cost-effective.
Safety initiatives also have a crucial role in fostering clinician well-being. By preventing harm, supporting resiliency, and promoting efficiency, these initiatives help combat physician burnout, which costs the United States an estimated $4.6 billion annually. Proactively investing in measures to prevent harm can assist in transitioning organisations from a punitive culture—where clinicians are penalised for errors and safety reporting is stifled—to a ‘just culture’, where continuous learning is encouraged by fixing broken workflows that contribute to mistakes.
Better patient outcomes, superior processes, and enhanced clinician and patient experiences culminate in an improved reputation. A sterling brand reputation bears benefits that are hard to measure but considerably impactful, aiding patient growth, attracting top-tier talent, and incrementing revenue over time. However, reputations built over years or even decades can be destroyed if a single high-profile incident occurs—making proactive investments in patient safety of paramount importance.
One instance of this principle in action can be seen in fall prevention measures. Falls are a primary cause of injury among older adults, causing over 41,000 fatalities each year. An individual inpatient fall may cost a healthcare facility upwards of $62,000, excluding any litigation costs. Conversely, relatively low investments in safety, such as scalable reporting and event analysis infrastructure, can significantly reduce harm and liability.
In conclusion, the corollaries of investing in patient safety—patient harm, workforce burnout, eroded trust, and tarnished reputation, while immaterial, are nonetheless high costs that healthcare systems inevitably bear. Thus, placing safety at the top of the priority list is wise not just from a humanitarian perspective but also from a business standpoint. In periods of tightening budgets and cost-cutting, hospital and health system leaders should contemplate how investing in patient safety aligns with long-term financial objectives.