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.
Ensuring maternal safety is a patient safety priority. This library reflects a curated selection of PSNet content focused on improving maternal safety. Included resources explore strategies with the potential to improve maternal care delivery and outcomes, such as high reliability, collaborative initiatives, teamwork, and trigger tools.
This piece explores the evolution of PSNet and WebM&M since their inception (WebM&M in 2003 and PSNet in 2005) and summarizes changes in the patient safety landscape over time.
This piece explores the evolution of PSNet and WebM&M since their inception (WebM&M in 2003 and PSNet in 2005) and summarizes changes in the patient safety landscape over time.
This piece explores the role medical scribes play in health care, how to implement and evaluate a scribe program, and recommendations to reduce variations in scribe practice.
This piece explores the role medical scribes play in health care, how to implement and evaluate a scribe program, and recommendations to reduce variations in scribe practice.
Dr. Smith is Chief Faculty Practices Officer for UCSF Health and a family medicine physician. Over the past 3–4 years, the health system has implemented a robust program using medical scribes in the outpatient setting. We spoke with her about her experience implementing this program, including the benefits and some of the potential patient safety ramifications.
This piece explores various practical and philosophical issues that could shape the adoption of machine learning and artificial intelligence systems in medicine.
This piece explores various practical and philosophical issues that could shape the adoption of machine learning and artificial intelligence systems in medicine.
This piece explores the key role of emergency medical services in providing care to patients at their moment of greatest need, safety hazards in this field, and opportunities for improvement.
This piece explores the key role of emergency medical services in providing care to patients at their moment of greatest need, safety hazards in this field, and opportunities for improvement.
This piece outlines how large integrated health care systems can implement effective patient safety programs and spotlights the importance of leadership engagement and a just culture.
This piece outlines how large integrated health care systems can implement effective patient safety programs and spotlights the importance of leadership engagement and a just culture.
Dr. Haas is an obstetrician–gynecologist and co-Principal Investigator for Ariadne Labs' work focused on health care system expansion. We spoke with her about the trend of health systems getting larger and more integrated, the risks to patient safety, and ways to mitigate these risks.
This perspective examines the troubling decline in maternal health outcomes in the United States and summarizes recent national initiatives to improve safety in maternity care.
This perspective examines the troubling decline in maternal health outcomes in the United States and summarizes recent national initiatives to improve safety in maternity care.
This piece explores the risks patients face after hospital discharge and strategies to address them, such as patient education, Project RED, and the Care Transitions Intervention.
This piece explores the risks patients face after hospital discharge and strategies to address them, such as patient education, Project RED, and the Care Transitions Intervention.
Dr. Krumholz is Professor of Medicine at the University of Yale School of Medicine and Director of the Yale-New Haven Hospital Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation. We spoke with him about readmissions and post-hospital syndrome, a term he coined in an article in the New England Journal of Medicine to describe the risk of adverse health events in recently hospitalized patients.
This piece explores how missed nursing care may explain the association between low nurse staffing levels and increased mortality in hospital patients.
This piece explores how missed nursing care may explain the association between low nurse staffing levels and increased mortality in hospital patients.
Dr. Aiken is Claire M. Fagin Leadership Professor of Nursing, Professor of Sociology, and Director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at University of Pennsylvania. She is generally considered the nation's foremost expert on health policy as it relates to the nursing workforce. We spoke with her about how nurse staffing and the work environment can affect patient safety and outcomes.
Patient engagement is widely acknowledged as a cornerstone of patient safety. Research in 2018 demonstrates that patient engagement, when done correctly, can help health care systems identify safety hazards, regain trust after they occur, and codesign sustainable solutions.
Patient engagement is widely acknowledged as a cornerstone of patient safety. Research in 2018 demonstrates that patient engagement, when done correctly, can help health care systems identify safety hazards, regain trust after they occur, and codesign sustainable solutions.
This piece outlines 10 insights about team training in health care learned from experience with the AHRQ-supported teamwork training program, TeamSTEPPS.
This piece outlines 10 insights about team training in health care learned from experience with the AHRQ-supported teamwork training program, TeamSTEPPS.
Dr. Edmondson is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School. She is an expert on leadership, teams, and organizational learning. We spoke with her about the role of teamwork in health care and why it is becoming increasingly important.
This piece explores how a team at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center combined tools and techniques used in manufacturing along with continuous improvement to develop a process to identify, prioritize, and mitigate hazards in health care settings.
This piece explores how a team at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center combined tools and techniques used in manufacturing along with continuous improvement to develop a process to identify, prioritize, and mitigate hazards in health care settings.
Mr. O'Neill served as the United States Secretary of the Treasury under President George W. Bush and, prior to that, chairman and CEO of Alcoa. We spoke with him about workplace safety and its relationship to patient safety and organizational excellence.
This piece explores how strategies from aviation, such as just culture and monitoring technologies, can be applied in health care to improve patient safety.
This piece explores how strategies from aviation, such as just culture and monitoring technologies, can be applied in health care to improve patient safety.
James P. Bagian, MD, is the Director of the Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for Patient Safety. Dr. Bagian began his career as a mechanical engineer, then became a physician, trained in surgery and anesthesia. A NASA Astronaut for 15 years, he flew on two space shuttle flights. In 2001, the American Medical Association awarded him the Nathan S. Davis Award for outstanding public service in the advancement of public health. We asked Dr. Bagian to speak with us about his experience transforming safety at in Veterans Affairs hospitals nationwide.
Dr. Meyer is Chief Clinical Officer of Partners Healthcare System, the large Boston-based system that includes Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women's Hospitals. We spoke with him about training and certification in patient safety.
The toll of medical errors is often expressed in terms of mortality attributable to patient safety problems. In 2016, there was considerable debate regarding the number of patients who die due to medical errors. This Annual Perspective explores the methodological approaches to estimating mortality attributable to preventable adverse events and discusses the benefits and limitations of existing approaches.
The toll of medical errors is often expressed in terms of mortality attributable to patient safety problems. In 2016, there was considerable debate regarding the number of patients who die due to medical errors. This Annual Perspective explores the methodological approaches to estimating mortality attributable to preventable adverse events and discusses the benefits and limitations of existing approaches.
Opioids are known to be high risk medications, and concerns about patient harm from prescription opioid misuse have been increasing in the United States. This Annual Perspective summarizes research published in 2016 that explored the extent of harm from their use, described problematic prescribing practices that likely contribute to adverse events, and demonstrated some promising practices to foster safer opioid use.
Opioids are known to be high risk medications, and concerns about patient harm from prescription opioid misuse have been increasing in the United States. This Annual Perspective summarizes research published in 2016 that explored the extent of harm from their use, described problematic prescribing practices that likely contribute to adverse events, and demonstrated some promising practices to foster safer opioid use.
This piece discusses risk-adjusted hospital mortality rates as a measure of hospital safety, including why they've become popular, major flaws such as low sensitivity, and alternative ways to use them.
This piece discusses risk-adjusted hospital mortality rates as a measure of hospital safety, including why they've become popular, major flaws such as low sensitivity, and alternative ways to use them.
Sir Brian Jarman designed the methodology for hospital standardized mortality ratios, a widely used method of measuring quality and safety, and was involved with the Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry. We spoke with him about the development of the HSMR and their role in monitoring performance.
Computerized provider order entry is a cornerstone of patient safety efforts, and the increasingly widespread implementation of electronic health records has made it a standard practice in health care. This Annual Perspective summarizes novel findings and research directions in computerized provider order entry in 2015.
Computerized provider order entry is a cornerstone of patient safety efforts, and the increasingly widespread implementation of electronic health records has made it a standard practice in health care. This Annual Perspective summarizes novel findings and research directions in computerized provider order entry in 2015.
Mr. Graban is an internationally recognized expert in Lean Healthcare. We spoke with him about applying Lean in hospitals to improve safety and decrease waste.