A Future Focused on Safety

Day 2: Key takeaways from HAP’s Patient Safety, Quality, and Equity Symposium

September 03, 2026

Patient safety is thousands of topics in one.

Day two of HAP’s Patient Safety, Quality, and Equity Symposium explored the ways new technology, artificial intelligence, access to care, equity, workforce programs, and quality initiatives all connect with safety.

Health care will evolve dramatically over the next 10 years, but a simple principle holds true, noted Jason Mitchell, MD, executive vice president and chief medical officer, Geisinger.

"Although we are all in different systems, none of us compete in quality, safety or equity," Mitchell said. "There is no competition. We all win together there.”

Mitchell this morning hosted a forward-looking panel with hospital leaders focused on creating safer, more resilient health systems and defining success in patient safety:

• Access starts before patients enter the hospital and continues after they leave.
• Threats to patient safety are escalating outside the hospital walls, such as supply chain disruptions, third-party vendors, and new AI technologies. Hospitals need to account for these new variables.
• Data is valuable, but it needs to be managed as it grows in scope. Clinical leaders can find new signals that allow errors to be addressed before they come to fruition.
• Driving change starts with galvanizing the team about the ways everyone supports patient safety.
• Leaders need to think about safety in terms of protecting the workforce alongside delivering outstanding care. Equity is a form of preventable harm.

Lessons and Learning

Specialized breakout groups brought together hospital safety leaders on topics ranging from behavioral health, emergency department boarding, remote patient monitoring, improving life expectancy, and more.

HAP thanks our dedicated speakers, sponsors, and attendees who participated in our annual Patient Safety, Quality, and Equity Symposium. Be on the lookout for additional coverage in HAP publications.