The big(ger) aim: an always event.

THE FIELD OF HEALTH care quality and research is in the process of incorporating a new area of priority: an emphasis on ‘‘always events’’ that are focused on patient-centered outcomes and research. As opposed to ‘‘never events,’’ which concentrate on serious preventable events that should never happen in health care, ‘‘always events’’ stress those events that should always occur any time that a patient has contact with a health care provider or health care delivery system. The ultimate goal of all health care providers and systems should be to deliver care with a combined focus on both always and never events, which in my health care facility, is summed up as the ‘‘BIG(GER) Aim.’’