This guidance outlines design elements that reduce errors associated with medication labels. Improvements suggested include tall-man lettering use, look-alike / sound alike avoidance and abbreviation minimization.

Organizations with safety cultures facilitate the ability for an injured patient to seek an effective response to untoward incidents. This United States rule outlines the standards that enable members of the armed forces to file claims should they be harmed while in the military health care system.

Requirements are needed to manage risks associated with health information technology systems. This final rule provides a framework for government review of technologies certified by the ONC Health IT Certification Program. The rule also covers certification guidance for testing laboratories. The regulations were put into effect December 19, 2016.

This U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guideline supports good manufacturing practices by suggesting several strategies for minimizing medical gas-related patient safety incidents. 

This proposed rule suggests updates to the government requirements hospitals must comply with to participate in Medicare and Medicaid. Changes include emphasis on the role of leadership engagement and safety culture as ways to generate improvements in areas such as reducing hospital-acquired infections and readmissions. Comments on the proposed rule are due August 15, 2016.

Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs) were formed with provisions to protect voluntarily submitted incident data to enhance transparency and learning from medical error. Despite those expectations, PSOs still have obligations to report certain situations to external organizations. This guidance aims to clarify what and when external reporting should take place for PSOs to remain in compliance with federal requirements while appropriately protecting incident data.

Heparin is a high-alert anticoagulant that has been associated with patient harm due to issues with administration and contamination. This draft guidance seeks to engage insights from the field to help improve labeling practices. The deadline for officially submitting comments was October 7, 2015.

Poor safety culture and lack of available resources to provide high-quality care can hinder safety in long-term care facilities. This set of regulations will revise requirements for long-term care facilities in areas such as clinical practice standards, service delivery, patient-centeredness, and infection control. The deadline for officially submitting comments on the proposed rule was September 14, 2015.

Mistakes due to small-bore Luer connector similarities can contribute to patient harm. This guidance provides ways for manufacturers, policy makers, and product designers to prevent misconnections, including recommendations regarding improvements for labeling, user testing, and risk assessment.

Strategies to prevent medication errors are a continuing focus of ongoing safety initiatives. This guidance outlines factors to consider when creating drug products to reduce design-associated medication errors.

This final rule prohibits federal reimbursements to states for costs associated with health care–acquired conditions. The regulations are effective as of July 1, 2011.

This final rule outlines how to become a Patient Safety Organization (PSO), and supports AHRQ action to receive applications from qualified entities that wish to become PSOs. 

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires certain human drug and biological product labels to contain bar codes. The rule aims to reduce the number of medication errors by allowing health care professionals to use bar code scanning equipment for necessary verification. This protects against an incorrect drug administration. Effective date: April 26, 2004.