Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality September 2, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005, 42 U.S.C. 299b-21 to b-26 (Patient Safety Act), provides for the formation of Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs), which collect, aggregate, and analyze confidential information regarding the quality and safety of healthcare delivery. The Patient Safety Act (at 42 U.S.C. 299b-23) authorizes the collection of this information in a standardized manner, as explained in the related Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Final Rule, 42 CFR part 3 (Patient Safety Rule), published in the Federal Register on November 21, 2008: 73 FR 70731-70814. As authorized by the Secretary of HHS, AHRQ coordinates the development of a set of common definitions and reporting formats (Common Formats) that allow healthcare providers to voluntarily collect and submit standardized information regarding patient safety events. The initial release of the formats, Version 0.1 Beta, was announced in the Federal Register on August 29, 2008: 73 FR 50974-50976. The purpose of this notice is to announce the availability of the expanded and enhanced Common Formats Version 1.0 and the process for their continued development and refinement.