The National Quality Forum (NQF) has endorsed a framework for the public reporting of patient safety events to provide guidance that will standardize an approach to capture and present information about a range of adverse events, from infections and medical complications to errors and accidents in the care process.

According to the Washington, D.C.-based organization, the framework provides seven guidelines that address issues to consider in patient safety event reporting including:

• How to convey low-frequency events;
• Ways to protect patient confidentiality when reporting errors; and
• Guidance on using data from trusted sources.

The framework also offers guidance on designing and implementing public reports and provides strategies for displaying publicly reported data in a consumer-friendly way, NQF stated in a press release. Guidelines address the measures used in a public report; for example, measures used in a report should be meaningful to consumers, have transparent methodology and meet rigorous, widely-accepted criteria, the nonprofit said.

The appeals period is open through Nov. 8.