For the Public

Each year, hospitals in Washington are getting safer and your care is improving in quality.  Browse this section to learn more about how SCOAP is improving health care quality in Washington, find important information to help you when choosing a hospital, view publicly-reported SCOAP data, and find out how the use of surgical checklists increases patient safety in the operating room.

David Friedman“Coming from a Washington state perspective, the data we provide is becoming a template for the rest of the state, and even the rest of the world. What’s relevant in a big hospital in a big city is also relevant for a rural surgeon in a small community.” – Dr. David Friedman, Ocean Beach Hospital, quoted in The Daily Astorian.

“As one of [Dr. David Flum's] patients, it was especially interesting to read your quotes in the editorial section of theSeattle Times. I support wholeheartedly the initiative on the part of doctors and nurses to take steps on their own to improve the medical services. This type of action will help instill faith in the medical profession by the general public. This type of action and admission of past errors reassures me that you are trying to improve the profession. More self discipline form the profession would certainly make me feel more like supporting legislation to reduce liabiltiy [awards] for malpractice.”