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Toolkits
Patient safety toolkits provide practical applications of PSNet research and concepts for front line providers to use in their day to day work. These toolkits contain resources necessary to implement patient safety systems and protocols.
Latest Toolkits
Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; July 2022. AHRQ Publication No. 22-0038.
Diagnostic improvement continues to gain focus as a goal in health care. The Measure Dx tool provides teams with guidance and strategies to detect and learn from diagnostic errors in their organizations. It includes a checklist to gauge readiness for implementation, measurement strategies, and recommendations for analyzing data and translating findings into front line care.
Press Release/Announcement
Rockville, MD: Agency for Health Quality and Research; June 2022.
The potential for workplace violence degrades patient and staff safety. AHRQ is developing a survey item set that will help nursing homes identify and improve factors associated with workplace safety. The Workplace Safety Supplemental Item Set will assess the extent to which nursing homes’ organizational culture supports workplace safety. The new supplemental item set can be administered optionally at the end of the SOPS Nursing Home Survey. AHRQ will build this new measure of workplace safety upon its existing and highly successful SOPS program. This announcement calls for nursing homes to participate in a pilot study to test the application of the supplemental item set in the field.
Measurement Tool/Indicator
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Effective measurement of diagnostic error is essential for understanding the problem and generating improvements. The Common Formats provide a standard terminology for voluntary reporting of diagnostic errors to patient safety organizations. This website provides access to tools supporting use of the Common Formats that include forms and a users' guide.
Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; April 2022.
Healthcare-associated infections can result in significant morbidity and mortality. Developed by AHRQ, this customizable, educational toolkit uses the Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP) and other evidence-based practices to provide clinical and cultural guidance to support practice changes to prevent and reduce central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) and catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) rates in intensive care units (ICUs). Sections of the kit include items such an action plan template, implementation playbook, and team interaction aids.
All Toolkits (14)
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Krukas A, Franklin ES, Bonk C, et al. Patient Safety. 2020;2.
Intravenous vancomycin is an antibiotic with known medication safety risk factors. This assessment is designed to assist organizations to review clinician and organizational knowledge, medication administration activities and health information technology as a risk management strategy to minimize hazards associated with vancomycin use.
Fact Sheet/FAQs
Horsham, PA: Institute for Safe Medication Practices; 2019.
Hospitalized patients are at risk for medication errors. This set of tips seeks to help hospitalized patients contribute to the safe use of medications in their care. Recommendations include that patients know the reason they are taking each medication, speak up if any medications look different than previously, and talk with pharmacists when picking up discharge medications.
Newspaper/Magazine Article
ISMP Medication Safety Alert! Acute Care Edition. April 25, 2019.
Newborns assigned temporary names are at increased risk for patient misidentification and wrong-patient errors. This newsletter article reports on the role of electronic health records in newborn misidentification and the unintended consequences associated with a Joint Commission set of recommendations to reduce risk.
Horsham, PA: Institute for Safe Medication Practices; 2018.
Standardized practices have not been uniformly adopted to support safe IV medication therapy. This risk assessment tool will help organizations proactively identify process weaknesses that could contribute to patient harm. Users of the guide can also contribute to a national effort to collect data on current IV push practices. The data collection process is now closed.
University of Utah Drug Information Service; ASHP; American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
Efforts to limit the availability of opioids has led to a shortage of needed medications. This fact sheet provides strategies for organizations who seek to improve management of injectable opioids while taking into account both safety and supply availability.
Measurement Tool/Indicator
Institute for Safe Medication Practices; ISMP.
Drug shortages can contribute to treatment delays and complications that lead to patient harm. This survey sought insights from hospital directors of pharmacy regarding their experiences with drug shortages over the past 6 months.
Government Resource
Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; December 2014.
Standardization has been embraced as a strategy to improve health literacy and to reduce patient misunderstanding of medication instructions. This tool provides standard language that clarifies directions for patients regarding when they should take their medications.
Fact Sheet/FAQs
Silver Spring, MD: United States Food and Drug Administration; October 31, 2014.
Studies have shown that pharmacist involvement can prevent medication errors. To help patients take their medications safely, this consumer update discusses pharmacists as participants in a government drug information center and reveals the top five questions submitted along with their corresponding answers.
Press Release/Announcement
Institute for Safe Medication Practices and Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada.
This tool evaluates the safety of cancer treatment delivery in hospitals and ambulatory care settings.
Measurement Tool/Indicator
Horsham, PA: Institute for Safe Medication Practices; April 2011.
This tool provides hospitals with a team-based process to evaluate medication practices in their facilities. The data submission process is now closed, but the survey is still available for in-house use.
Measurement Tool/Indicator
This piece describes how reduced resources could affect patient safety and quality work in hospitals.
Government Resource
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; AHRQ.
This document summarizes the experience of numerous AHRQ-funded programs in implementing bar-coded medication administration.
PA PSRS Patient Saf Advis 2006 Jun;3(2):1,3-7.
This article shares several examples of errors made while verbally communicating medication orders and includes recommendations for safe practices.
Association AH, Pharmacists AS of H-S, Networks H & H. Hospitals & health networks. 2005;79:45-6.
This safety brief provides examples of collaboration, outsourcing, and technology to address medication safety issues in rural and small hospitals.
