H.R. 10810: National Patient Safety Board Act of 2026

This bill would create a new federal body called the National Patient Safety Board within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Its purpose would be to help prevent and reduce patient safety events, meaning cases where something in health care causes harm, could have caused harm, or narrowly avoided harm.

What the new board would do

The board would:

• Help federal agencies monitor and anticipate patient safety problems.
• Study why patient safety events happen and what factors contribute to them.
• Develop recommendations and solutions to prevent similar events in the future.
• Review reports from its research division and decide whether more study or revisions are needed.
• Make its reports public, generally within one year after a study begins.
• Submit annual reports to Congress describing its work, findings, unresolved issues, and recommendations.

How it would be organized

The board would have 5 members appointed by the President, with staggered terms. At least 3 members would need expertise in patient safety or in safety in complex, high-risk systems. At least 2 members would represent patients or families affected by patient safety events. The board would also have a Chair and Vice Chair, staff, and three divisions:

• A Patient Safety Research and Development Division
• A Study Division
• An Administrative Division

Data collection and reporting

The research division would set up a public-private team called the Health Care Safety Team to identify and recommend ways to detect and prevent patient safety events. The bill would allow the division to collect de-identified patient-level data from HHS and the Department of Veterans Affairs, and to set up a data portal so public and private entities could opt in to share similar data.

The division would analyze this information to identify patterns, causes, and outcomes of patient safety events. It would also look at differences by race, ethnicity, gender, facility, age, social factors, and location to identify disparities.

The bill would also create a patient safety reporting website or system where patients, health care workers, and others could report safety events anonymously or by name, and receive a response from the board.

Studies and special investigations

The Study Division would be able to conduct or support studies of patient safety events. It would appoint a study lead, assemble experts, and decide whether a study should be virtual, in person, or handled through a special board of inquiry. The bill specifically allows for a special board of inquiry during a novel infection or emerging pandemic, in coordination with the CDC, to provide recommendations on preparedness and response.

The Study Division would have to provide progress reports during each study and a final report at the end, including information on likely causes, precursors, and outcomes of the event being studied.

Limits and protections

The bill says the board’s reports would not be admissible as evidence of liability in civil lawsuits, and HHS could not use the board’s work to impose punitive or disciplinary measures on health care providers. The board and its study teams would not have authority to decide anyone’s legal rights or liabilities.

It also says that employees who cooperate with the board would get whistleblower-style protections against discharge or discrimination.

The board’s reports and publications would not be allowed to include information that identifies individual patients, providers, or health care settings.

Relevant Companies

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