Patient-safety commission reports fewer serious events in 2025, highlights falls and infection control

Representatives of the New Hampshire Health Care Quality and Patient Safety Commission presented the commission’s 2026 report (which includes 2025 data) and said statewide serious reportable events decreased from 142 in 2024 to 129 in 2025. Hannah Sharp, patient safety officer at Elliott Health System, and Chris Herring, vice president for quality improvement at the Foundation for Healthy Communities, described the commission’s role as a confidential forum for hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers to share adverse-event lessons and prevention strategies.

Herring said the commission’s areas of focus included reducing falls that cause death or serious injury, strengthening regulatory readiness and infection-control practices, aligning patient-safety measures with CMS requirements and reviewing new National Quality Forum reporting categories. "In 2025, falls that led to death or serious injury were the highest reportable adverse event statewide," he said, and commissioners emphasized system-level change and sharing best practices rather than punitive reporting.