The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced Wednesday that its Westside medical campus’ patient safety program would be funded over the next three years to develop innovations to improve patient safety throughout the healthcare system.

The VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System’s Patient Safety Centers of Inquiry — one of 10 centers around the country to receive the funding — will focus on transitions for elderly veterans and those with complex conditions. They will test the impact of these transitions on 30-day re-admissions and patient satisfaction.

“The PSCI program is the pre-eminent patient safety innovation network in the Veterans Health Administration,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “Since 1999, the interventions implemented through the PSCI program have significantly contributed to our veterans receiving the safest care anywhere.”

PSCI initiatives that have led to key improvements in patient safety include the creation of toolkits for the prevention of patient falls, moderate sedation techniques for use by non-anesthesiologists, protocols for reducing hospital-acquired infections, suicide prevention strategies and a cancer care tracking system, according to the VA.

The 10 centers were selected from among 36 applicants by an interdisciplinary review committee from the VA National Center for Patient Safety that consists of patient safety experts, including physicians, nurses, psychologists and pharmacists.

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