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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 30 Results
Perspective on Safety August 30, 2023

This piece discusses virtual nursing, an approach to care that incorporates an advanced practice nurse into hospital-based patient care through telehealth. Virtual nursing increases patient safety and may enable expert nurses to continue to meet patient needs in future staffing shortages.

This piece discusses virtual nursing, an approach to care that incorporates an advanced practice nurse into hospital-based patient care through telehealth. Virtual nursing increases patient safety and may enable expert nurses to continue to meet patient needs in future staffing shortages.

Kathleen Sanford

Editor’s note: Kathleen Sanford is the chief nursing officer and an executive vice president at CommonSpirit. Sue Schuelke is an assistant professor at the College of Nursing–Lincoln Division, University of Nebraska Medical Center. They have pioneered and tested a new model of nursing care that utilizes technology to add experienced expert nurses to care teams, called Virtual Nursing.

Lalani M, Wytrykowski S, Hogan H. BMJ Open. 2023;13:e067441.
Care integration —the linking of care across primary, secondary, social, community, and mental health—can improve care for patients with chronic conditions. In this review, 24 studies of integrated care were included. Most of the studies focused on decreasing risk of falls and/or medication errors, mostly in the home or across settings (e.g., hospital and primary care). The authors recommend future research focus on safety targets beyond falls and medication safety and report on outcomes.
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.

Black GB, Lyratzopoulos G, Vincent CA, et al. BMJ. 2023;380:e071225.
Primary care often initiates a diagnostic process that is vulnerable to miscommunication, uncertainty, and delay. This commentary examines how cancer diagnosis delay in primary care occurs. The authors suggest a systems approach targeting interconnected process elements including enhanced use of information technology to help with monitoring and care coordination to realize and sustain improvement.
Patient Safety Innovation March 29, 2023

With increasing recognition that health is linked to the conditions in which a patient lives, health systems are looking for innovative ways to support recently discharged patients in their lives outside of the hospital. In a recent innovation, Prime Healthcare Services, Inc., which includes a network of 45 hospitals, provided social needs assessments and strengthened its partnerships with community agencies to support the health of high-needs patients after their discharge from the hospital.

Winqvist I, Näppä U, Rönning H, et al. Int J Qual Stud Health Well-being. 2023;18:2185964.
Improving care transitions is a patient safety priority. Based on interviews with 21 nurses in Sweden, this study explored nursing concerns regarding transitions of care from inpatient to home healthcare settings in rural areas. Participants cited concerns regarding care coordination, communication, and logistics.
WebM&M Case March 15, 2023

A 71-year-old man presented to his physician with rectal bleeding and pain, which was attributed to radiation proctitis following therapy for adenocarcinoma of the prostate. He subsequently developed a potentially life-threatening complication of sepsis while awaiting follow up care for a spontaneous rectal perforation. The commentary addresses the importance of early identification and timely intervention in the event of treatment failure and the post-discharge follow-up programs to improve care coordination and communication during transitions of care.

Bose S, Groat D, Dinglas VD, et al. Crit Care Med. 2023;51:212-221.
Medication discrepancies at discharge are a known contributor to hospital readmission, but nonmedication needs may also contribute. In this study, 200 survivors of acute respiratory failure were followed up 7-28 days post discharge to assess unmet nonmedication discharge needs (i.e., durable medical equipment, home health services, follow-up medical appointments). Nearly all patients had at least one unmet need, but this was not associated with hospital readmission or mortality within 90 days.
Curated Libraries
January 19, 2023
The Primary-Care Research in Diagnosis Errors (PRIDE) Learning Network was a Boston-based national effort to improve diagnostic safety. Hosted by the State of Massachusetts’ Betsy Lehman Center, it was led by the Harvard Brigham and Women’s Center for Patient Safety Research and Practice with funding from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. ...
Perspective on Safety November 16, 2022

Human factors engineering or ergonomics (HFE) is a scientific discipline broadly focused on interactions among humans and other elements of a system.

Human factors engineering or ergonomics (HFE) is a scientific discipline broadly focused on interactions among humans and other elements of a system.

Michelle Schreiber photograph

We spoke to Dr. Michelle Schreiber about measuring patient safety, the CMS National Quality Strategy, and the future of measurement. Michelle Schreiber, MD, is the Deputy Director of the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality and the Director of the Quality Measurement and Value-Based Incentives Group at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Washington, DC: VA Office of the Inspector General; September 15, 2022. Report no. 22-00815-232.

Care coordination failures reduce the effectiveness of communication, information transfer, and patient monitoring to the determent of safety. This report examines the current state of interfacility transfers in 45 veteran facilities to find that, while process requirements were basically met, improvements could be made to medication list transfer, nursing communication, and general service evaluation.
Curated Libraries
October 10, 2022
Selected PSNet materials for a general safety audience focusing on improvements in the diagnostic process and the strategies that support them to prevent diagnostic errors from harming patients.
Perspective on Safety September 28, 2022

Special thanks to Freya Spielberg, MD, MPH, Founder and CEO of Urgent Wellness LLC in Washington, DC; and Jack Westfall, MD, MPH, Director of the Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care, for their thoughtful interviews on the topic of Primary Care and Patient Safety, which helped lay the groundwork for this Perspective.

Special thanks to Freya Spielberg, MD, MPH, Founder and CEO of Urgent Wellness LLC in Washington, DC; and Jack Westfall, MD, MPH, Director of the Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care, for their thoughtful interviews on the topic of Primary Care and Patient Safety, which helped lay the groundwork for this Perspective.

Freya Spielberg

Freya Spielberg MD, MPH, is the Founder and CEO of Urgent Wellness LLC, a social enterprise dedicated to improving the health of Individuals living in low-income housing in Washington, DC. Previously, as an Associate Professor at George Washington University, and at the University of Texas Dell Medical School, and School of Public Health, she developed a curriculum in Community Oriented Quality Improvement, to train the next generation of healthcare providers how to integrate population health into primary care to achieve the quintuple aim of better health outcomes, better patient experience, better provider experience, lower health care costs, and decreased health disparities. We spoke with her about her ongoing work in low-income communities to improve access to primary care and its impact on patient safety.

Perspective on Safety September 28, 2022

Freya Spielberg MD, MPH, is the Founder and CEO of Urgent Wellness LLC, a social enterprise dedicated to improving the health of Individuals living in low-income housing in Washington, DC.

Freya Spielberg MD, MPH, is the Founder and CEO of Urgent Wellness LLC, a social enterprise dedicated to improving the health of Individuals living in low-income housing in Washington, DC.

Zipperer L, Ryan R, Jones B. J Patient Saf Risk Manag. 2022;27:201-208.
Implicit biases and stigma can negatively impact health care provided to patients with substance use disorders such as alcohol use disorder (AUD). This narrative review concluded that patients with AUD are frequently undiagnosed and not appropriately referred for treatment or treated. The authors cite barriers to effective care for patients with AUD, including poor integration and coordination between medical care and behavioral health care in the United States.
Akinyelure OP, Colvin CL, Sterling MR, et al. BMC Geriatr. 2022;22:476.
Frail older adults are at increased risk of adverse events including rehospitalization and overtreatment. In this study, researchers assessed the association of care coordination and preventable adverse events in frail older adults. Compared with non-frail older adults, frail older adults reported experiencing more adverse events they believed could have been prevented with better care coordination.
Trost SL, Beauregard JL, Smoots AN, et al. Health Aff (Millwood). 2021;40:1551-1559.
Missed diagnosis of mental health conditions can lead to serious adverse outcomes. Researchers evaluated data from 2008 to 2017 from 14 state Maternal Mortality Review Committees and found that 11% of pregnancy-related deaths were due to mental health conditions. A substantial proportion of people with a pregnancy-related mental health cause of death had a history of depression or past/current substance use. Researchers conclude that addressing gaps maternal mental health care is essential to improving maternal safety.
Reece JC, Neal EFG, Nguyen P, et al. BMC Cancer. 2021;21:373.
Lack of timely follow-up of test results is an ongoing patient safety problem in primary care and can lead to missed or delayed diagnoses. This systematic review concluded that follow-up of abnormal mammograms in primary care is suboptimal. Findings from included studies indicate that ethnic minorities and women with lower educational attainment were more likely to have inadequate follow-up. Factors influencing follow-up include physician-patient miscommunication, alert fatigue, difficulty obtaining test results or patient records, and logistical barriers. The authors suggest adopting interventions focused on mitigating factors that negatively impact follow-up, such as patient navigation and case management.
Russ-Jara AL, Luckhurst CL, Dismore RA, et al. J Gen Intern Med. 2021;36:2212-2220.
Resolving medication errors often requires coordination between different care providers. This qualitative study examined medication safety incidents at one VA hospital and found that health care providers rely on cognitive decentering, collaborative decision-making, back-up behaviors, and contingency planning to coordinate care during medication safety incidents. The primary barriers to care coordination identified were role ambiguity, breakdowns in care, and electronic health record-related challenges.