Patient Safety Resources

If you're interested in how the safety and quality of health care can be measured and rated, visit these websites.

Patient Safety Organizations

• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality www.ahrq.gov
• Information for consumers, policymakers and other health care leaders. Gives specific examples of medical errors and things that can go - and have gone - wrong, and what has been done to prevent further errors.
  
  
• AHRQ Patient Safety Network (PSNet) psnet.ahrq.gov
• A national "one-stop" website offering resources for improving patient safety and preventing medical errors.
  
  
• American Society of Healthcare Risk Management www.ashrm.org
• Information for health care providers on proactive and innovative ways to manage and reduce health care risks.
  
  
• Institute for Healthcare Improvement www.ihi.org
• Information for health care providers on many health care topics, focusing on health care improvements.
  
  
• Institute for Safe Medication Practices www.ismp.org
• Provides education for patients and health care providers on adverse drug events and how to prevent them, primarily for health care practitioners and institutions, regulatory agencies, professional organizations and the pharmaceutical industry. gives specific tips on what patients can do to prevent medication errors.
  
  
• Institute Of Medicine www.iom.edu
• As part of the National Academies of Sciences, the Institute provides scientifically grounded health-care advice for patients, health-care providers and employers.
  
  
• Michigan Health & Safety Coalition (MHSC) www.mihealthandsafety.org
• Surveys Michigan hospitals on their performance in specific areas of patient safety improvement. Compares hospitals to each other and publishes the comparisons for everyone to use. Provides information on specific ways patients can help prevent medical errors.
  
  
• National Forum for Health Care Quality Measurement and Reporting (NQF) www.qualityforum.org
• Information for health care providers and patients on national standards developed for health care quality measurement and reporting, and data on health care performance.
  
  
• National Patient Safety Foundation www.npsf.org
• How to use patient safety information to improve health care.
  
  
• JosieKing.org www.josieking.org
• Story of a patient who died as a result of medical errors. Gives specific examples of steps taken by the family and hospital to help prevent medical errors across the country.
  
  

Employer/Purchaser Organizations

• Employer Health Care Alliance Cooperative www.alliancehealthcoop.com
• Information for employers on how to purchase affordable health care based on high quality.
  
  
• National Business Coalition on Health www.nbch.org
• Information for employers on affordable health care and how to accelerate the nation's progress toward safe, efficient, high-quality health care.
  
  

Public Purchasers

• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), formerly known as Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) www.cms.hhs.gov
• Information on the quality of care provided by home health care agencies, nursing homes, hospitals, and other providers of care to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.
  
  
• Home Health Compare www.medicare.gov/HHCompare/Home.asp
• Specific area of the CMS website (above) that provides information on the quality of care provided by home health care agencies.
  
  
• Nursing Home Compare www.medicare.gov/NHCompare/home.asp
• Specific area of the CMS website (above) that provides information on the quality of care provided by nursing homes.
  
  

Health Industry Groups

• American Hospital Association www.aha.org
• Source of information for patients and health care providers on health care issues and trends, specifically focused on hospitals, health care networks, their patients and communities.
  
  
• Joint Commission Accreditation of Health Care Organizations www.jcaho.org
• Accreditation status of health care organizations, requirements for health care organizations, and information about unsafe events that have occurred at accredited organizations.
  
  
• National Committee on Quality Assurance www.ncqa.org
• Information on the quality of managed-care plans such as Priority Health, the state of health care in the United States, and what managed-care organizations are doing to improve the health care of the nation.