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The PSNet Collection: All Content

The AHRQ PSNet Collection comprises an extensive selection of resources relevant to the patient safety community. These resources come in a variety of formats, including literature, research, tools, and Web sites. Resources are identified using the National Library of Medicine’s Medline database, various news and content aggregators, and the expertise of the AHRQ PSNet editorial and technical teams.

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Displaying 1 - 20 of 215 Results
Schneider P, Lorenz A, Menegay MC, et al. Am J Obstet Gynecol MFM. 2023;5:100912.
Reducing maternal morbidity and mortality continues to be a patient safety priority in the United States. The article describes the implementation of a quality improvement initiative in Ohio to improve outcomes for patients with a severe hypertensive event during pregnancy or postpartum. Among 29 participating hospitals between July 2020 and September 2021, the researchers identified sustained improvements in timely and appropriate treatment for severe hypertension, timely follow-up appointment after hospital discharge, and patient education about urgent maternal warning signs across both non-Hispanic Black and White pregnant or postpartum people.
Institute for Safe Medication Practices.
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices sponsors the annual Cheers Awards to recognize both individuals and institutions for their commitment to medication safety. The 2023 nomination process is open through August 6, 2023.
Boudreaux ED, Larkin C, Vallejo Sefair A, et al. JAMA Psych. 2023;Epub May 17.
Patients who present to the emergency department (ED) with suicidal ideation can benefit from ED-initiated interventions, but interventions can be difficult to implement and maintain. This research builds on a 2013 study, describing the quality improvement (QI) methods used to implement the Emergency Department Safety Assessment and Follow-up Evaluation 2 (ED-SAFE 2) trial. The QI approach was successful in reducing death by suicide and suicide-related acute care during the study period.

Moyal-Smith R, Margo J, Maloney FL, et al. J Patient Saf. 2023;19(4):243-248.

Individual, team, and organizational challenges can hinder the effective implementation of patient safety initiatives. This article describes the development of the Patient Safety Adoption Framework, which includes five domains supporting the adoption and implementation of patient safety initiatives (leadership, culture and context, process, meaningful measurement, and person-centeredness).
Allen G, Setzer J, Jones R, et al. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf. 2023;49:247-254.
Reconciling medication lists at transitions of care is a widely recognized safety strategy; however, other parts of the electronic health record (EHR) - allergies and problem lists - also need reconciliation. This article describes an academic medical system's quality improvement project to increase rates of complete reconciliation of problems, medications, and allergies in the EHR. Twenty-six cycles of Plan-Do-Study-Act increased completion rates from 20% to 80%.
May 4, 2023
The implementation of effective patient safety initiatives is challenging due to the complexity of the health care environment. This curated library shares resources summarizing overarching ideas and strategies that can aid in successful program execution, establishment, and sustainability.
Perspective on Safety April 26, 2023

Throughout 2022, AHRQ PSNet has shared research that elucidates the complex nature of misdiagnosis and diagnostic safety. This Year in Review explores recent work in diagnostic safety and ways that greater safety may be promoted using tools developed to improve diagnostic practices.

Throughout 2022, AHRQ PSNet has shared research that elucidates the complex nature of misdiagnosis and diagnostic safety. This Year in Review explores recent work in diagnostic safety and ways that greater safety may be promoted using tools developed to improve diagnostic practices.

Thomas AL, Graham KL, Davila S, et al. J Patient Saf. 2023;19:180-184.
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in many changes to the delivery of healthcare. Using data submitted to one Patient Safety Organization, this study examined patient safety events and concerns related to proning patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Issues identified included medical device-related pressure injuries and device dislodgement, concerns with care delivery, staffing levels, and acuity issues.
Pozzobon LD, Lam J, Chimonides E, et al. Healthc Manage Forum. 2023;Epub Apr 6.
High-reliability organizations are able to achieve safety despite organizational changes or other hazardous conditions. This article describes the implementation of a new electronic health record (EHR) system at one academic health system in Canada and provides examples of how high-reliability principles informed activities to prevent patient harm during this organizational change.
Løland M, Braut GS, Lichtenberg SM, et al. SAGE Open Med. 2023;11:205031212311642.
Quality improvement and patient safety programs implement numerous improvement projects over time, and understanding their overall success and long-term sustainability is important. This article describes the impact of improvement toolkits in the labor and delivery ward on a Norwegian hospital since the 1990s. Fourteen tools (e.g., databases, leadership seminars) and their results are described.
Duffy C, Menon N, Horak D, et al. JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6:e237621.
Safety-II is a proactive approach to improving patient safety by focusing on what goes right in healthcare. This study describes the use of a novel tool and activity, One Safe Act (OSA), to capture activities performed by perioperative staff that keep patients safe. Eight themes emerged, with the most common theme being routines the staff “always” performed, followed by confirming resource availability.
Redstone CS, Zadeh M, Wilson M-A, et al. J Patient Saf. 2023;19:173-179.
Previous research has found that central line-associated blood stream infections (CLABSIs) increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of a quality improvement initiative (QI) at one community health system in Canada to reduce CLABSIs between July 2019 and May 2022. The QI initiative included changes in six areas – organizational oversight and accountability, education and training, standardized central line processes, optimized central line equipment, improving data and reporting, and fostering a culture of safety. Over the study period, CLABSIs were reduced by 51% and the use of both central line insertion checklists and central line capped lumens increased.
Jeffs L, Bruno F, Zeng RL, et al. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf. 2023;49:255-264.
Implementation science is the practice of applying research to healthcare policies and practices. This study explores the role of implementation science in the success of quality improvement projects. Inclusion of expert implementation specialists and coaches were identified as best practices for successful quality improvement and patient safety projects. COVID-19 presented challenges for some facilities, however, including halting previously successful projects.
Trivedi A, Ajitsaria R, Bate T. Arch Dis Child Educ Pract Ed. 2022;108:115-119.
Pediatric patients are at particularly high risk for medication errors. This article describes the STAMP initiative (Safe Treatment and Administration of Medicine in Pediatrics) which aims to reduce pediatric inpatient prescribing and administration errors. The authors summarize the STAMP interventions originally implemented in 2017 and discuss the new interventions implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic (between July 2020 and August 2021), which led to sustained reductions in prescribing errors.
Stone A, Jiang ST, Stahl MC, et al. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2023;149:424-429.
Identifying and classifying adverse events is an important, yet often challenging, component of incident reporting. This article describes the development and testing of a novel Quality Improvement Classification System (QICS) designed to incorporate adverse events in both inpatient and outpatient settings across medical and surgical specialties in order to capture a broader range of outcomes related to patient care, including organizational issues, near-miss events, and expected deviations from ideal outcomes of surgery.
Bates DW, Williams EA. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2022;10:3141-3144.
Electronic health records (EHRs) are key for the collection of patient care data to inform overarching risk management and improvement strategies. This article discusses the adoption of EHRs as tools supporting patient safety and highlights the need for an expanded technology infrastructure to continue making progress.

Oregon Patient Safety Commission: 2023.

Gaslighting has been identified as a contributor to maternal mortality and morbidity. This toolkit of compiled resources aims to help inform organizational activities to establish programs and strategies to reduce the impact of disrespect, implicit bias and inequities that affect the care of pregnant persons.
Hawkins RB, Nallamothu BK. BMJ Qual Saf. 2023;32:181-184.
A 2022 study found that non-first off-pump coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) had a higher risk of complications than first cases, proposing prior workload as a contributing cause. This commentary responds to that study, proposing system and organizational factors, not just the individual surgeon, be taken into consideration as contributing causes.
Curated Libraries
March 8, 2023
Value as an element of patient safety is emerging as an approach to prioritize and evaluate improvement actions. This library highlights resources that explore the business case for cost effective, efficient and impactful efforts to reduce medical errors.