Patient safety has been moving towards a broader definition of harm, including expanding from physical harm to all harm (including emotional, psychological, and financial). Harm also includes harm to both patients and those who care for them. Finally, harm includes not just inpatient harm, but harm across the entire continuum. COVID has highlighted the importance and relevance of all these types of harm, and that inequity is a major contributor. Health care leaders and organizations will need to build and strengthen trust with patients and the workforce as we go forward—and systematically addressing inequities must be a core component of that effort.
