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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 1729 Results
Leapfrog Group
Drawing from data reported by the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), this website provides grades for hospitals in the United States based on their safety. The Fall 2023 hospital safety grade results, documenting a reduction in both patient satisfaction scores and healthcare associated infection rates to pre-pandemic levels, are available. 
Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality.
The comprehensive unit-based safety program (CUSP) approach emphasizes improving safety culture through a continuous process of reporting and learning from errors, improving teamwork, and engaging staff at all levels in safety efforts. Available on demand and live, this session covers how to utilize CUSP, including understanding and addressing challenges to implementation. The next virtual session will be held January 16, 2024.
Office of Health Care Quality. Baltimore, MD: Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
This annual report summarizes never events in Maryland hospitals over the previous year. During fiscal year 2022, reported events increased due to the COVID pandemic, workforce shortages and other system demands. Events contributing to patient deaths and severe harm from preventable medical errors during the time period doubled. The authors recommend several corrective actions to enhance improvement work, including board and executive leadership engagement in safety work and application of high-reliability concepts to enhance safety culture.
Brown CE, Snyder CR, Marshall AR, et al. J Gen Intern Med. 2023;Epub Aug 24.
Structural racism continues to perpetuate health disparities. As part of their study on how black patients with serious illness experience racism from providers, researchers conducted interviews with 21 providers to understand ways they address anti-Black racism in their practice. Providers felt unprepared to address racism with their patients, wanted to provide tools for patients to bring up their experiences while also acknowledging the additional burden this would place on Black patients, and thought patient- and provider-facing programs could facilitate discussions. Additionally, despite extensive research on the negative impacts of structural racism on health, participants cited the need for more data.
Portland, OR: Oregon Patient Safety Commission.
This site provides data and analysis from two Oregon Patient Safety Commission patient safety initiatives: the Patient Safety Reporting Program (PSRP) and Early Discussion and Resolution (EDR) effort. The latest PSRP report discusses the Commission's collaborative efforts in 2022 to implement changes aligned with the Safer Together report. The 2022 EDR analysis discusses the uptake of the program to generate conversations with patients and providers after a patient safety incident occurred.
Fillo KT, Saunders K. Bureau of Health Care Safety and Quality, Department of Public Health. Boston, MA: Commonwealth of Massachusetts; 2023.
This reoccurring report compiles patient safety data collected by Massachusetts hospitals. The 2022 numbers document an increase in serious reportable events recorded in acute care hospitals, from 1430 the previous year to 1632. This presentation also includes events from ambulatory surgery centers. Older reports are also available.
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.
Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority. Harrisburg, PA: Patient Safety Authority; April 2023.
This report summarizes patient safety improvement work in the state of Pennsylvania. It reviews the 2022 activities of the Patient Safety Authority that reflected a strategic emphasis on reporting compliance and data quality. Additional sections cover educational, publication, and learning management system efforts.
Leapfrog Group.
This website offers resources related to the Leapfrog Hospital Survey investigating hospitals' progress in implementing specific patient safety practices. Updates to the survey include increased time allotted to complete computerized provider order entry evaluation, staffing of critical care physicians on intensive care units, and use of tools to measure safety culture. Reports discussing the results are segmented into specific areas of focus such as health care-associated infections and medication errors. The 2023 survey session opens April 1, 2023.
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.
Alper E, O'Malley TA, Greenwald J. UpToDate. February 3, 2023.
This review examines hospital discharge, details elements of the process that can increase risk of readmission, and reveals interventions to improve safety.
Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
In this annual publication, AHRQ reviews the results of the National Healthcare Quality Report and National Healthcare Disparities Report. The 2022 report discusses a decrease in life expectancy due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It also reviews the current status of special areas of interest such as maternity care, child and adolescent mental health, and substance abuse disorders. 
Brady KJS, Barlam TF, Trockel MT, et al. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf. 2022;48:287-297.
Inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics to treat viral illnesses is an ongoing patient safety threat. This study examined the association between clinician depression, anxiety, and burnout and inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics for acute respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in outpatient care. Depression and anxiety, but not burnout, were associated with increased adjusted odds of inappropriate prescribing for RTIs.
Horsham, PA: Institute for Safe Medication Practices; 2022.
This updated report outlines 19 consensus-based best practices to ensure safe medication administration, such as diluted solutions of vincristine in minibags and standardized metrics for patient weight. The set of recommended practices has been reviewed and updated every two years since it was first developed in 2014 to include actions related to eliminating the prescribing of fentanyl patches for acute pain and use of information about medication safety risks from other organizations to motivate improvement efforts. The 2022 update includes new practices that are associated with oxytocin, barcode verification in vaccine administration, and high-alert medications. 
Patient Safety Innovation January 26, 2022

The Revised Safer Dx Instrument provides a standardized list of questions to help users retrospectively identify and assess the likelihood of a missed diagnosis in a healthcare episode. Results of the assessment are intended for use in system-level safety improvement efforts, clinician feedback, and patient safety research.

Curated Libraries
January 14, 2022
The medication-use process is highly complex with many steps and risk points for error, and those errors are a key target for improving safety. This Library reflects a curated selection of PSNet content focused on medication and drug errors. Included resources explore understanding harms from preventable medication use, medication safety...
Trenton, NJ: New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services.
Detailing results of an error reporting initiative in New Jersey, these reports explain how consumers can use this information and provides tips for safety when obtaining health care. A section highlights findings related to patient safety indicators.
Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; October 2021.
This annual analysis explores rates of health care-associated infections (HAIs) reported in the United States. Data from 2020 revealed increases in central line–associated bloodstream infections and other infections while a decrease in surgical site infections. The current report also discusses the impact of COVID-19 on reporting and data submission efforts.