Bridging Efforts to Improve Patient Safety and Public Health | Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality

Bridging Efforts to Improve Patient Safety and Public Health | Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality

New AHRQ Brochure Helps Organizations Effectively Choose a Patient Safety Organization

A new regulation from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services allows qualified health plans to meet the requirements of the Affordable Care Act by contracting with hospitals that work with Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs).  AHRQ’s brochure, Choosing a Patient Safety Organization, can help by describing factors to consider when choosing a PSO and explaining how to find a listed PSO. Working with a PSO can help organizations achieve better and safer care. PSOs have experts who can collect, analyze and aggregate clinical data at local, regional and national levels to develop insights into the underlying causes of patient safety events that might not be obvious. Hospitals that work with PSOs can also submit nonidentifiable data to the Network of Patient Safety Databases to enable aggregation and comparison of data on a national level. Download AHRQ’s new brochure or call AHRQ’s Publications Clearinghouse, (800) 358-9295, to order limited free copies. Read AHRQ’s new blog post on the topic.