As healthcare enters 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is making one thing unmistakably clear: patient safety is no longer just about policies—it’s about culture. Through expanded oversight, public reporting, and alignment with accrediting organizations, CMS is reinforcing expectations that safety must be embedded into how care is delivered every day, at every level of the organization.
For accredited facilities, this shift elevates long‑standing safety programs—such as laser safety—from technical compliance exercises to visible indicators of a mature, high‑functioning culture of safety.
The Regulatory Shift: From Checklist Compliance to Safety Culture
CMS’s National Quality Strategy emphasizes the reduction of preventable harm and the promotion of a healthcare system grounded in transparency, leadership accountability, and continuous learning. This philosophy is operationalized through the CMS Patient Safety Structural Measure (PSSM), which evaluates whether hospitals have foundational systems in place to support a culture of safety across five domains, including leadership commitment and organizational learning.
Beginning in 2026, PSSM scores will be publicly reported, reinforcing that safety culture is not only a regulatory expectation but also a reputational issue for hospitals participating in CMS payment programs.
Rather than focusing on individual incidents, CMS is signaling that how an organization prevents harm—through governance, accountability, and workforce engagement—matters just as much as outcomes.
Alignment With Accreditation: Culture of Safety as a National Performance Goal
Accredited facilities will see these CMS expectations mirrored in the Joint Commission’s National Performance Goals (NPGs), which replace the former National Patient Safety Goals effective January 1, 2026. National Performance Goal #2: Culture of Safety explicitly requires hospital leadership to foster environments where:
- Safety risks are proactively identified and addressed
- Staff can speak up without fear of retaliation
- Leaders visibly support safety programs and accountability
- Safety culture is regularly measured and evaluated
The Facility’s Laser Safety Program should be a key indicator in the fostering of a Culture of Safety!
