A recent AHRQ pilot safety event testing utilized both patient and family input. | Courtesy of Shutterstock
+ Regulatory
Amanda Rupp | May 21, 2016

Safety event testing uses patient and family input

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has developed a program, called the Health Care Safety Hotline project, to improve the quality and safety of medical events for patients throughout the U.S.

The goal is to guarantee that health care is safer for everyone involved. To accomplish this, there must be complete, accurate information about patients -- otherwise, health care providers cannot adjust their approaches to make certain that patients remain safe during treatments and procedures.

Clinicians frequently hear about harm that happens to patients from health care issues, but more perspectives must be gathered from the patients and their families. Because health care is so complicated, it is crucial to ensure that patients are receiving the best care possible and that providers are receiving all necessary information.

Patients see many different health care representatives throughout their lives: physicians, technicians, nurses and more. This is why patients’ perspectives are so important to improving the care that they receive. By using input from patients and their families, it is more likely that related problems will be addressed.

Health officials intend to use this opportunity to gain constructive input for clinicians, patients and experts. Succeeding at this endeavor depends on facing and overcoming challenges in gathering important, useful feedback, as well as transforming this information into practical knowledge for safer care.

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