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Health care–associated infections occur across various health care settings. AHRQ seeks to support large research (R01) and dissemination (R18) projects working to develop strategies and approaches for preventing and reducing health care–associated infections. Applications will be accepted on a standard submission schedule through May 27, 2025.

The TeamSTEPPS program was developed to support effective communication and teamwork in health care. This online series will prepare participants to guide their organizations through implementation of the TeamSTEPPS program. It is designed for individuals that are new to TeamSTEPPS processes.

This award program recognizes organization-wide commitment to five key goals that support high-quality health care: access, health, innovation, affordability, individual as partner. The deadline for submitting an application for the 2022 award cycle is October 15, 2021.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) provides consumers with publicly available information on the quality of Medicare-certified hospital care through this Web site. The site includes specific information for both patients and hospitals on how to use the data to guide decision-making and improvement initiatives. Most recently, listings from the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HACRP) and data on Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals were added to the reports available.

This program will explore health care quality and safety and focus on the theme "Innovation in Unprecedented Times." Topics covered will include the psychology of change, promoting joy in practice, and building innovation skills. 

Organization executives influence the success of patient safety improvement. This virtual workshop will meet weekly to highlight how leaders can use assessments, planning, and evidence to improve the safety culture at their organizations.

Patients, families, and providers around the world are affected by medical error. This annual event and associated materials seek to raise awareness, motivate collaboration, and stimulate innovative work targeting a distinct patient safety theme. The 2021 theme is “Safe maternal and newborn care” with the slogan “Act now for safe and respectful childbirth!"

This organization highlights the importance of in-depth reporting and investigation of adverse events in labor and delivery, involving parents in the analysis, engaging external experts to gain broader perspectives about what occurred, and focusing on system factors that contribute to failures. A WebM&M commentary discusses how lapses in fetal monitoring can miss signs of distress that result in harm. The reporting initiative closed in 2021 after presenting its final report. Investigations in this area will now be undertaken by the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch in England.

Hospital rating programs have received significant public attention, but concerns have been raised regarding their usefulness. This website provides resources to augment usability of this data including reports describing the methodology used by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to generate the information provided on the Hospital Compare website. In 2021 the process was adjusted to employ a 5-measure standardization process examining data submitted associated with mortality, readmission, patient experience, care timeliness/effectiveness and safety.

This report summarizes patient safety improvement work in the state of Pennsylvania and reviews the 2020 activities of the Patient Safety Authority, including the Agency's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, video programs, liaison efforts, publication efforts, and the convening of patient safety conferences for the state.

This website provides resources for promoting patient safety during Patient Safety Awareness Week. The annual observance is held in March.

This online class prepares individuals to apply for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement patient safety certification program. The on-demand or live sessions cover key patient safety concepts to enhance participants' knowledge about safety culture, systems thinking, leadership, risk identification and analysis, information technology, and human factors. The next live session is October 7, 2021.

The National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports review analysis specific to tracking patient safety challenges and improvements across ambulatory, home health, hospital, and nursing home environments. The most recent update documented improvements in approximately half of the patient safety measures tracked. This set of tools includes summaries drawn from the reports for use in presentations to enhance distribution and application of the data.

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.

Surveys are established mechanisms for organizational assessment of safety culture. This collection of webinars provides an overview of the AHRQ Surveys on Patient Safety Culture and a range of content related to the successful use of the surveys. Topics covered include organizational characteristics required for successful web-based distribution of the survey and best practices for formatting, programming, and administering the surveys in a variety of environments. 

In this annual publication, AHRQ reviews the results of the National Healthcare Quality Report and National Healthcare Disparities Report. This 2020 report highlights that a wide range of quality measures have shown improvement in quality, access, and cost.

The National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) are one of the major methods by which The Joint Commission establishes standards for ensuring patient safety in all health care settings. In order to ensure health care facilities focus on preventing major sources of patient harm, The Joint Commission regularly revises the NPSGs based on their impact, cost, and effectiveness. Major focus areas include promoting surgical safety and preventing hospital-acquired infections, medication errors, inpatient suicide, and specific clinical harms such as falls and pressure ulcers. The 2021 NPSGs reflect no changes from the 2020 goal set. 

This publication annually reports on the successful outcomes of the Michigan Keystone Center collaborative activities. This year's achievements include submission of 110,888 safety events to the state patient safety organization reporting system. Areas of focus for improvement work included obstetrical safety, workplace safety, and opioid stewardship. 

In this continuing series, high-performance work practices are explored and defined through literature review, case analysis, and research. The authors summarize findings and discuss how best practices can influence quality, safety, and efficiency outcomes. Topics covered include speaking up, central line infection prevention, and business case development.