PSO Memo 10-21-2010

To: Joshua Brammer

From: Doris Lefkowitz

CC: William Munier, Director, Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety

Memo regarding Change Requests to Common Formats and PSO Information Form.

As part of the implementation of the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005, AHRQ develops and maintains Common Formats for reporting patient safety event data and administers the Patient Safety Organization (PSO) program.

• Common Formats. (Please see attachment for further detail and background information)

As authorized by the Secretary, AHRQ coordinates the development and maintenance of a set of common definitions and reporting formats (Common Formats) that allow health care providers to voluntarily collect and submit standardized information regarding patient safety events. AHRQ requests minor changes from Version 1.0 of the Common Formats to Version 1.1 which reflect public comments and the development of technical specifications that promote standardization and enable electronic data reporting. In addition AHRQ requests minor modifications in the language of the Device Common Format to allow for patient safety events related to Health Information Technology (HIT) devices, including additional questions that provide detail specific to HIT (see Attachment A).

• PSO Information Form.

The purpose of the PSO Information Form is to gather information on the type of healthcare providers and settings that PSOs are working with to conduct patient safety activities. It is designed to collect a minimum level of data for a report of aggregate statistics on the reach of the Patient Safety Act, including types of institutions participating and their general location in the US. This information will be included in AHRQ’s annual National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports, as required under Section 923(c) of the PHS Act. 42 U.S.C. 299b-23(c). The de-identification requirements of the Patient Safety Rule prohibit the release of PSO or provider-specific data.

Changes to the PSO Information Form are necessary to minimize the number of information requests from AHRQ and standardize the information provided. AHRQ is revising the PSO Information Form (see Attachment B) to enhance AHRQ’s ability to analyze and interpret non-identifiable patient safety event data. The information will be collected electronically when PSOs submit patient safety event data to the PSO PPC for de-identification prior to transmission to the Network of Patient Safety Databases (NPSD).

We believe it is most practical and efficient to complete a change request that encompasses all of these changes. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Doris Lefkowitz

AHRQ Reports Clearance Officer