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 April 18-19, 2023.

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 review of 2021 PSRP data discusses the impact of the state adverse event reporting program and upcoming initiative to examine how organizational safety effort prioritization affects care in Oregon. The 2022 EDR analysis discusses the uptake of the program to generate conversations with patients and providers after a patient safety incident occurred.

Team training programs seek to improve communication and coordination among team members to reduce the potential for medical error. This virtual workshop will train participants to design, implement, and evaluate team training programs in their organizations based on the TeamSTEPPS model. 

The AHRQ Surveys on Patient Safety Culture™ (SOPS®) Hospital Survey Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture ask health care providers and staff about the extent to which their organizational culture supports patient safety. The SOPS Workplace Safety Supplemental Item Set for Hospitals was designed for use in conjunction with the AHRQ Hospital Survey to help hospitals assess the extent to which their organization’s culture supports workplace safety for providers and staff. This data analysis found “Protection From Workplace Hazards” as the highest-scoring composite measure and “Addressing Workplace Aggression From Patients or Visitors” as the lowest-scoring composite measure. An average of 34% of healthcare providers and staff experienced symptoms of “Work Stress/Burnout” which represents a 4-percentage point increase from the 2021 pilot study results.

Enteral feeding tube medication delivery presents safety challenges that can cause harm. This article highlights problems with feed tube medication administration. It shares improvement recommendations that include best practice adherence, standardization, monitoring, and patient engagement.

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 2022 hospital safety grade results, representing the 10th anniversary of the program, are available. A 2019 report from the Armstrong Institute examines avoidable death associated with grading hospitals. 

Instituting a culture of safety is fundamental to ensuring patient and staff safety. The AHRQ Surveys on Patient Safety Culture™ (SOPS®) Hospital Survey is a validated survey that has been widely used to assess patient safety culture since 2004. The 2022 report includes data from 400 hospitals. The highest “percent positive” composite measure scores included both effective teamwork and supervisor, manager, or clinical leader support for suggestions for improving patient safety, and addressing patient safety concerns. Overall, when asked to rate their unit/work area on patient safety, 67 percent of respondents rated their unit/work area as “Excellent” or “Very Good.”

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. 

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.