AHRQ Wins Award for Excellence From Medical Liability Association

AHRQ has received the 2016 Award of Excellence in Health Research from the Physician Insurers Association of America (PIAA), an association that represents medical professional liability insurers. In a letter to AHRQ Director Richard Kronick, Ph.D, PIAA President and CEO Brian K. Atchinson and Board of Directors Chair Gloria H. Everett commended AHRQ’s dedication to develop evidence to maximize the quality, accessibility, and affordability of health care, and to work with HHS and other stakeholders to ensure that AHRQ findings are understood and used. In particular, PIAA recognized AHRQ’s Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety for its focus on improving health care-associated infections, patient safety, and patient communication. PIAA represents medical professional liability companies, hospital and health system captives, risk-retention groups and other organizations that insure more than two-thirds of America's private practicing physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals, and more than 2,000 hospitals and 8,000 medical facilities. The award will be officially presented to AHRQ on May 12 at PIAA’s 2016 Medical Liability Conference in Washington, D.C.

Resource Links

World Alliance for Patient Safety

Patient safety policy and practice

International Society for Quality in Health Care

Guidance for excellence in health care delivery

Value-Driven Health Care
Better care, lower cost

AHRQ Leadership Video: Dr. Jeff Brady on Making Health Care Safer

AHRQ's Healthcare-Associated Infections Program

Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP)

Partnership for Patients

The Partnership for Patients initiative is a public-private partnership working to improve the quality, safety, and affordability of health care for all Americans, including resources, measures, and reports on reducing healthcare-associated conditions.

Patient and Family Engagement

Whether you see patients at a hospital, primary care office, or other setting, time is often limited and patients and family members who have prioritized their questions or concerns will experience the most meaningful, efficient visits. To help you and your patients get the most out of your time together, AHRQ offers these free resources that you can use with your team and share with your patients.

Patient Safety Measure Tools & Resources

Information about AHRQ efforts to reduce medical errors and improve patient safety.

Tools and Resources

Pharmacy Health Literacy Center

This site provides pharmacists with recently released health literacy tools and other resources from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

Surveys on Patient Safety Culture

As part of its goal to support a culture of patient safety and quality improvement in the Nation's health care system, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) sponsored the development of patient safety culture assessment tools for hospitals, nursing homes, ambulatory outpatient medical offices, community pharmacies, and ambulatory surgery centers.

Quality Measure Tools & Resources

Quality improvement measurement, tools, and information, including AHRQ Quality Indicators Hospital Toolkit, ambulatory clinical performance measures, the National Quality Measures Clearinghouse, and Talking Quality.

Internet Citation: Quality and Patient Safety. August 2015. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/quality-patient-safety/index.html