Patient Safety Awareness Week – March 10-16 – is upon us and is the time to recognize the importance of patient safety in every setting where health services are provided, blogged Jeffrey Brady, M.D., M.P.H, Director of AHRQ’s Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety, noting that the agency this year is focusing on improving safety in the ambulatory setting. Brady said outpatient services have skyrocketed and are estimated to be three times as high as inpatient services with AHRQ data showing 49% of the 19 million surgeries performed in 2012 were performed on an outpatient basis, a portion that’s projected to be much higher today.
AHRQ says it has assigned more funding and technical support to the “unique safety challenges in care provided outside of the hospital” and include evidence-based, practical guidance on how to make ambulatory care safer.
AHRQ-provided resources for safer ambulatory-center care:
- Toolkit to Engage High-Risk Patients in Safe Transitions Across Ambulatory Settings: Patients with complicated care needs or other risk factors can be more vulnerable to patient safety gaps, and these patients can gain substantial benefits from help in preparing for their medical appointments. This toolkit gives providers what they need to engage and prepare these patients for new appointments.
- Guide to Improving Patient Safety in Primary Care Settings by Engaging Patients and Families: When providers work in partnership with patients, health care encounters are safer. This guide helps primary care practices with practical strategies about how to do this and ensure safer, higher quality care.
- Improving Your Laboratory Testing Process: A Step-by-Step Guide for Rapid-Cycle Patient Safety and Quality Improvement: Up to 40 percent of patient encounters in primary care offices involve some type of medical test. This guide can help primary care offices increase the reliability of their laboratory testing process.
“As helpful as these tools are, we know there are many more safety-related challenges that need to be addressed.,” Brady said. “That’s why we’re continuing to invest in research that’s targeting challenges in outpatient settings, such as the need to improve diagnosis.:
AHRQ says it has received additional funds to invest in the effort further, such as giving more support to researchers to better understand why diagnostic errors occur and how to prevent them.
