Quality Safety Resources

AONL has identified the following resources on quality and safety to assist you in preventing and analyzing health care-related adverse events and close calls. Additional tools can be found here.
To ensure you are viewing the most up-to-date information on any of the web-based resources, you may want to start at the home page and then progress to the pages with quality and safety content.
Commercial web sites and products other than patient safety books and publications will not be considered for inclusion.

Resource links

National Organizations

National Quality Forum (NQF)
The National Quality Forum (NQF) is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan, membership-based organization that works to catalyze improvements in healthcare. The NQF convenes working groups to foster quality improvement in both public- and private-sectors; endorses consensus standards for performance measurement; ensures that consistent, high-quality performance information is publicly available; and seeks real time feedback to ensure measures are meaningful and accurate.

National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ)
The National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ) is a professional association dedicated to the advancement of the profession of healthcare quality and patient safety and the individual professionals working in the field. Founded in 1976, NAHQ has more than 10,000 quality and patient safety professionals working in healthcare settings both nationally and internationally. These professionals drive the delivery of vital data for effective decision making in healthcare systems by combining technology with their unique expertise in quality management. The purpose of the NAHQ is to improve healthcare quality across all points of care through education, certification, and advocacy through identifying and creating a core body of knowledge to advance healthcare quality and patient safety; identifying and promoting professional competencies and practices necessary to effectively apply the knowledge; raising public awareness and fostering communications about healthcare quality and patient safety; and fostering collaboration with like-purposed professionals to advance mutual goals and improve NAHQ’s ability to meet its goals.

Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), an independent not-for-profit organization, is a leading innovator, convener, partner, and driver of results in health and health care improvement worldwide. IHI's work is focused in five key areas: improvement capability; person- and family-centered care; patient safety; quality, cost, and value; and triple aim for populations.

The Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations
An independent, not-for-profit organization, The Joint Commission accredits and certifies more than 20,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. Joint Commission accreditation and certification is recognized nationwide as a symbol of quality that reflects an organization’s commitment to meeting certain performance standards. The mission of The Joint Commission is to continuously improve health care for the public, in collaboration with other stakeholders, by evaluating health care organizations and inspiring them to excel in providing safe and effective care of the highest quality and value.

The Leapfrog Group
The Leapfrog Group is an initiative driven by organizations that buy health care who are working to initiate breakthrough improvements in the safety, quality and affordability of healthcare for Americans. Leapfrog is a member supported program aimed at mobilizing employer purchasing power to alert America’s health industry that big leaps in health care safety, quality and customer value will be recognized and rewarded.

Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is authorized by Congress to conduct research to provide information about the best available evidence to help patients and their health care providers make more informed decisions. PCORI’s research is intended to give patients a better understanding of the prevention, treatment and care options available, and the science that supports those options.

AcademyHealth
AcademyHealth seeks to improve health and health care by generating new knowledge and moving knowledge into action.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is the United States' largest philanthropy focused solely on the public’s health. RWJF is committed to identifying and supporting evidence-based, measurable, and equitable initiatives.

Federal (U.S.) Organizations

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
AHRQ's mission is to produce evidence to make health care safer, higher quality, more accessible, equitable, and affordable, and to work with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and other partners to make sure that the evidence is understood and used. AHRQ's priority areas of focus are to improve health care quality by accelerating implementation of patient-centered outcomes research; make health care safer; increase accessibility to health care; and improve health care affordability, efficiency, and cost transparency. View the AHRQ Quality and Patient Safety page.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is an agency within the US Department of Health & Human Services responsible for administration of several key federal health care programs. In addition to Medicare (the federal health insurance program for seniors) and Medicaid (the federal needs-based program), CMS oversees the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), among other services.

Advocacy Groups

National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF)
The National Patient Safety Foundation’s vision is to create a world where patients and those who care for them are free from harm. A central voice for patient safety since 1997, NPSF partners with patients and families, the health care community, and key stakeholders to advance patient safety and health care workforce safety and disseminate strategies to prevent harm. NPSF is an independent, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

AHA Affiliates

American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM)
Established in 1980, the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) is a personal membership group of the American Hospital Association (AHA) with nearly 6,000 members representing risk management, patient safety, insurance, law, finance and other related professions. ASHRM promotes effective and innovative risk management strategies and professional leadership through education, recognition, advocacy, publications, networking and interactions with leading healthcare organizations and government agencies. ASHRM initiatives focus on developing and implementing safe and effective patient care practices, the preservation of financial resources and the maintenance of safe working environments.

Health Research and Education Trust (HRET)
Founded in 1944, the Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET) is the not-for-profit research and education affiliate of the American Hospital Association (AHA). HRET’s mission is to transform health care through research and education. HRET’s applied research seeks to create new knowledge, tools and assistance in improving the delivery of health care by providers and practitioners within the communities they serve.

Hospitals in Pursuit of Excellence (HPOE)
Hospitals in Pursuit of Excellence (HPOE) is the American Hospital Association's strategic platform to accelerate performance improvement and support delivery system transformation in the nation's hospitals and health systems. HPOE provides education on best practices through multiple channels, develops evidence-based tools and guides, provides leadership development through fellowships and networks, and engages hospitals in national improvement projects. Working in collaboration with allied hospital associations and national partners, HPOE synthesizes and disseminates knowledge, shares proven practices and spreads innovation to support care improvement at the local level.

Quality Certification

Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ)
The CPHQ credential signifies professional and academic achievement by individuals in the field of healthcare quality management

Safety Certification

Certification Board for Professionals in Patient Safety (CBPPS)
The Certification Board for Professionals in Patient Safety (CBPPS) was formed to oversee a rigorous and comprehensive credentialing process that attests to patient safety competencies and expertise. The board’s chief responsibility is the development and administration of an evidence-based examination that provides candidates with a process by which they can demonstrate their competency in patient safety science and application

Johns Hopkins Medicine Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality
This five-day program covers such essential topics as patient safety culture, patient-centered care, safe design principles, and interdisciplinary teamwork and communication. With these foundational principles as background, participants will explore how to identify and mitigate risks and develop data-driven change efforts, using human factors engineering and Lean strategies to guide their improvement plans. They will see how the Comprehensive Unit-Based Safety Program (CUSP) provides one model for achieving patient safety outcomes.

American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) Patient Safety Certificate Program
ASHRM has designed a unique two-part Patient Safety curriculum to help healthcare risk management and patient safety professionals understand and apply their key contributions to improved patient care and outcomes. Participants will review the foundational concepts of patient safety and learn to effectively apply them to effect positive change in their organization.

Patient Experience

Cleveland Clinic Office of Patient Experience
Cleveland Clinic was the first major academic medical center to make patient experience a strategic goal, the first to appoint a Chief Experience Officer, and one of the first academic medical centers to establish an Office of Patient Experience. The Office of Patient Experience’s mission is to ensure consistently patient-centered care by partnering with caregivers to exceed the expectations of patients and families. The Office serves as an advisory resource for critical initiatives across the Cleveland Clinic health system; provides resources and data analytics; identifies, supports, and publishes sustainable best practices; and collaborates with a variety of departments to ensure the consistent delivery of patient-centered care.

Association for Patient Experience
The Association for Patient Experience is a 501(c)(3) organization established to support healthcare professionals, patients, and their families by improving the patient experience. The Association for Patient Experience seeks greater understanding of key drivers contributing to positive patient experiences, strives to develop and share creative, sound solutions to common patient experience issues, continually anticipates the future of healthcare delivery and drives innovative changes in the patient experience, and advocates on behalf of patients and families and is not intimidated by the complexity of improving the healthcare experience.