Which of the following is a National Patient Safety Goal identified by The Joint Commission for 2025?

• A. Schedule patient checkouts
• B. Expand facility capacity
• C. Identify patients correctly
• D. Increase hospital revenue

Answer: (C)

The main idea is preventing errors by making sure you know exactly who you’re caring for before giving care, meds, or performing procedures. The Joint Commission’s National Patient Safety Goals for 2025 emphasize identifying patients correctly, which means using at least two identifiers—such as the patient’s name and date of birth or medical record number—and confirming these before any procedure, medication administration, or transfer. Practically, this includes checking the patient’s wristband, asking for their full name and date of birth, and using barcode scans when available. Relying on room numbers or bed locations isn’t reliable for identification, so they’re not acceptable identifiers.

Administrative tasks like scheduling checkouts, expanding facility capacity, or increasing hospital revenue don’t target patient safety in the same way, so they aren’t the focus of the Joint Commission’s safety goals.