Safety Assurance Factors for EHR Resilience: SAFER Guides.

Multi-use Website

Safety Assurance Factors for EHR Resilience: SAFER Guides.

January 29, 2014

Washington, DC: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

Health information technologies are seen to both contribute to and detract from health care safety. This series of toolkits offers best practices to align implementation of electronic health records with strategies to ensure their safe use.

Available at

Related news article

Related audio

Related Resources From the Same Author(s)

Strategy on Reducing Regulatory and Administrative Burden Relating to the Use of Health IT and EHRs.

December 12, 2018

Health IT Patient Safety Action and Surveillance Plan.

July 17, 2013

Health IT Safety Center Roadmap.

July 29, 2015

Recent Evidence That Health IT Improves Patient Safety: Issue Brief.

May 13, 2015

Opioid Epidemic & Health IT

May 18, 2016

ONC Health IT Certification Program: Enhanced Oversight and Accountability.

November 30, 2016

FDASIA Health IT Report: Proposed Strategy and Recommendations for a Risk-Based Framework.

April 30, 2014

How to Identify and Address Unsafe Conditions Associated With Health IT.

December 18, 2013

Promoting Patient Safety Through Effective Health Information Technology Risk Management.

July 23, 2014

Medication Management: Detailed Use Case.

July 4, 2007

Goals and Priorities for Health Care Organizations to Improve Safety Using Health IT. Revised Report.

June 29, 2016

Nursing Home Complaint Investigations.

September 20, 2006

Hospital Reporting of Deaths Related to Restraint and Seclusion.

September 27, 2006

The Food and Drug Administration's National Drug Code Directory.

September 6, 2006

National Action Plan for Adverse Drug Event Prevention.

September 24, 2014

Canada continues to lag behind other OECD countries on measures of patient safety

December 4, 2019

International Comparisons: A Focus on Quality of Care.

March 26, 2014

Patient Safety in Canada: An Update.

August 29, 2007

HSMR: A New Approach for Measuring Hospital Mortality Trends in Canada.

December 12, 2007

Corporate Responsibility and Health Care Quality: A Resource for Health Care Boards of Directors.

July 18, 2007

Solicitation for written comments on draft National Action Plan for Adverse Drug Event Prevention.

September 18, 2013

Department of Defense Health Care Quality.

January 10, 2007

Medicare's Oversight of Ambulatory Surgery Centers Report.

October 23, 2019

Hospital Harm Measure.

November 9, 2016

Opioids in Medicare Part D: Concerns About Extreme Use and Questionable Prescribing.

August 9, 2017

Trends in Nursing Home Deficiencies and Complaints.

October 29, 2008

AHRQ Health Information Technology Research: 2018 Year in Review.

October 23, 2019

Hospital Experiences Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results of a National Pulse Survey March 23-27, 2020.

April 22, 2020

Adverse Events in Hospitals: Medicare's Responses to Alleged Serious Events.

November 16, 2011

Patient Safety as an Exercise in Behavioral Change.

October 24, 2012

Few Adverse Events in Hospitals Were Reported to State Adverse Event Reporting Systems.

August 1, 2012

Adverse Events in Rehabilitation Hospitals: National Incidence Among Medicare Beneficiaries.

July 27, 2016

Adverse Events in Long-Term-Care Hospitals: National Incidence Among Medicare Beneficiaries.

January 9, 2019

Medicare’s Oversight of Compounded Pharmaceuticals Used in Hospitals.

February 11, 2015

Adverse Events in Hospitals: National Incidence Among Medicare Beneficiaries.

November 24, 2010

Better Safer Care Victoria.

January 29, 2020

Adverse Events in Hospitals: Public Disclosure of Information About Events.

January 20, 2010

Health IT and Patient Safety: Building Safer Systems for Better Care.

November 16, 2011

Report of the Announced Inspection of Medication Safety at the Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore, County Offaly.

June 14, 2017

Patient Safety Investigation report into services at University Hospital Galway (UHG) and as reflected in the care provided to Savita Halappanavar.

October 23, 2013

The Rebecca O'Malley Report.

May 21, 2008

Physician-Owned Specialty Hospital's Ability to Manage Medical Emergencies.

January 23, 2008

Patient Safety Tool Kit.

June 24, 2015

Interim Report: Review of VHA's Patient Wait Times, Scheduling Practices, and Alleged Patient Deaths at the Phoenix Health Care System.

June 4, 2014

Addressing Health Worker Burnout.

June 8, 2022

Taking Action Against Clinician Burnout: A Systems Approach to Professional Well-Being.

November 6, 2019

Review of Alleged Patient Deaths, Patient Wait Times, and Scheduling Practices at the Phoenix VA Health Care System.

September 10, 2014

Long-Term Trends of Psychotropic Drug Use in Nursing Homes.

February 1, 2023

Adverse Events in Hospitals: A Quarter of Medicare Patients Experienced Harm in October 2018.

May 25, 2022

Cybersecurity is Patient Safety: Policy Options in the Health Care Sector.

December 14, 2022

Adverse Events in Skilled Nursing Facilities: National Incidence Among Medicare Beneficiaries.

March 19, 2014

Managing the Costs of Clinical Negligence in Trusts.

October 4, 2017

Medicare Part D Beneficiaries at Serious Risk of Opioid Misuse or Overdose: A Closer Look.

May 20, 2020

When There's Harm in the Hospital: Can Transparency Replace "Deny and Defend"?

April 27, 2016

Maryland Hospital Patient Safety Program Annual Report.

August 1, 2021

Exploring Patient Engagement in Reducing Health-Care-Related Safety Risks.

September 4, 2013

Evaluation of Registered Nurse Competency Processes in Veterans Health Administration Facilities.

June 13, 2012

Quality of Care in Cranial Implant Surgeries at James A. Haley VA Medical Center, Tampa, Florida.

April 26, 2006

Unexpected Death of a Patient During Treatment With Multiple Medications, Tomah VA Medical Center, Tomah, Wisconsin.

September 16, 2015

Communicating Clearly About Medicines: Proceedings of a Workshop.

September 20, 2017

Ensuring Healthcare Safety Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic.

June 10, 2020

Medication Safety and Hospital Referrals: A Report by the Health and Disability Commissioner.

May 23, 2007

Healthcare Inspection—Emergency Department Patient Deaths: Memphis VAMC, Memphis, Tennessee.

November 13, 2013

The Patient Safety Initiative at America’s Public Hospitals: The Year One Overview.

February 9, 2011

Critical Deficiencies at the Washington DC VA Medical Center.

March 21, 2018

My Medicines.

July 9, 2014

Deficiencies in Care Coordination and Facility Response to a Patient Suicide at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System, Minnesota.

January 29, 2020

How Can Health Care Organizations Become More Health Literate?: Workshop Summary.

August 15, 2012

Incidence of Adverse Events in Indian Health Service Hospitals.

December 23, 2020

Request for comments on the proposed measures and 2020 targets for the National Action Plan for Adverse Drug Event Prevention: inpatient and outpatient measures for reduction of adverse drug events from anticoagulants, diabetes agents, and opioid analgesics.

November 2, 2016

VA Patient Safety Program: A Cultural Perspective at Four Medical Facilities.

January 4, 2006

Deficiencies in Emergent and Outpatient Care of a Patient with Alcohol Use Disorder at the Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis, Indiana.

April 19, 2023

Inadequate Outpatient Mental Health Triage and Care of a Patient at the Chico Community-Based Outpatient Clinic in California.

March 1, 2023

Comprehensive Healthcare Inspection Summary Report: Evaluation of Care Coordination in Veterans Health Administration Facilities, Fiscal Year 2021.

October 12, 2022

The New Electronic Health Record’s Unknown Queue Caused Multiple Events of Patient Harm.

July 27, 2022

Multiple Failures in Test Results Follow-up for a Patient Diagnosed with Prostate Cancer at the Hampton VA Medical Center in Virginia.

July 13, 2022

Comprehensive Healthcare Inspection Summary Report: Evaluation of Mental Health in Veterans Health Administration Facilities, Fiscal Year 2020.

March 16, 2022

Partnership for Patients.

April 13, 2011

Toward a High Performance Health System: Public-Private Efforts to Make Health Care Safer and More Effective.

October 19, 2005

Patient Suicide on a Locked Mental Health Unit at the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center, Florida.

September 4, 2019

Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century.

March 27, 2005

Partnering to Heal: Teaming-Up Against Healthcare-Associated Infections.

July 20, 2011

Patient Safety Organizations: Hospital Participation, Value, and Challenges.

October 16, 2019

National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy.

June 16, 2010

Nursing Homes: Despite Increased Oversight, Challenges Remain in Ensuring High-Quality Care and Resident Safety.

January 31, 2006

Hospital Incident Reporting Systems Do Not Capture Most Patient Harm.

January 18, 2012

Adverse Events in Hospitals: Care Study of Incidence Among Medicare Beneficiaries in Two Selected Counties.

February 18, 2009

Adverse Events in Hospitals: State Reporting Systems.

January 14, 2009

Adverse Events in Hospitals: Overview of Key Issues.

January 14, 2009

Adverse Events in Hospitals: Methods for Identifying Events.

March 17, 2010

Inadequate Emergency Department Care and Physician Misconduct at the Washington DC VA Medical Center.

August 12, 2020

Healthcare Inspection: Evaluation of the Veterans Health Administration's National Consult Delay Review and Associated Fact Sheet.

January 14, 2015

VA Health Care: Steps Taken to Improve Practitioner Screening, but Facility Compliance with Screening Requirements is Poor.

July 5, 2006

Antibiotic Stewardship in Acute Care: A Practical Playbook.

July 13, 2016

Patient Safety Measures.

December 11, 2013

Compendium of Reports.

May 31, 2006

Prescription Opioids: Medicare Needs to Expand Oversight Efforts to Reduce the Risk of Harm.

November 22, 2017

Veterans Health Care: Veterans Health Administration Processes for Responding to Reported Adverse Events.

September 5, 2012

Patient Safety: Hospitals Face Challenges Implementing Evidence-Based Practices.

March 9, 2016

Health-Care-Associated Infections in Hospitals: An Overview of State Reporting Programs and Individual Hospital Initiatives to Reduce Certain Infections.

October 15, 2008

Related Resources

Patient Safety Innovations

Remote Response Team and Customized Alert Settings Help Improve Management of Sepsis

May 31, 2023

Improving safety during transitions of care through the use of electronic referral loops to receive and reconcile health information.

May 10, 2023

Identifying electronic health record contributions to diagnostic error in ambulatory settings through legal claims analysis.

May 3, 2023

Racism and electronic health records (EHRs): perspectives for research and practice.

April 12, 2023

Quality and safety: learning from the past and (re)imagining the future.

March 29, 2023

Cybersecurity is Patient Safety: Policy Options in the Health Care Sector.

December 14, 2022

Evaluation of Quality, Safety and Value in Veterans Health Administration Facilities, Fiscal 2021.

November 16, 2022

Professional behavior and value erosion: a qualitative study of physicians and the electronic health record.

November 9, 2022

The National Healthcare System Action Alliance to Advance Patient Safety.

November 14, 2022 - November 14, 2022

Artificial Intelligence in Health Care: Benefits and Challenges of Machine Learning Technologies for Medical Diagnostics.

October 26, 2022

Opportunities to Improve Patient Safety, Advancing U.S. Innovation, and Innovation Hubs.

October 5, 2022

Patient safety issues from information overload in electronic medical records.

September 14, 2022

Emergency preparedness: be ready for unanticipated electronic health record (EHR) downtime.

September 7, 2022

Development and pilot evaluation of an electronic health record usability and safety self-assessment tool.

August 24, 2022

Inaccurate penicillin allergy labeling, the electronic health record, and adverse outcomes of care.

August 24, 2022

Examining the Status of VA’s Electronic Health Record Modernization Program.

August 10, 2022

The New Electronic Health Record’s Unknown Queue Caused Multiple Events of Patient Harm.

July 27, 2022

Experiences of transgender people reviewing their electronic health records, a qualitative study.

June 29, 2022

TeamSTEPPS® for Diagnosis Improvement.

March 23, 2022

Improving allergy documentation: a retrospective electronic health record system-wide patient safety initiative.

January 1, 2022

Enabling a learning healthcare system with automated computer protocols that produce replicable and personalized clinician actions.

August 4, 2021

Diagnostic Safety Supplemental Item Set for Medical Office SOPS.

April 28, 2021

Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings.

April 1, 2021

Patient Safety

September 17, 2020

Hospitals Can Take Key Steps to Improve Safe Use of Digital Systems.

August 12, 2020

AHRQ Health Information Technology Research: 2018 Year in Review.

October 23, 2019

Association of electronic health record design and use factors with clinician stress and burnout.

September 4, 2019

Perspective

Medical Scribes and Patient Safety

August 1, 2019

NHS Improvement.

May 18, 2019

Death by 1,000 clicks: where electronic health records went wrong.

March 27, 2019

See More About The Topic

Health Care Executives and Administrators

Information Professionals

Medicine

Latent Errors

Electronic Health Records