ASHP recently submitted comments to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) recommending several changes to the agency's proposed regulation that establishes the structure for a system to voluntarily report medical errors and near misses.

The final regulation will implement the 2005 Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act and set up the framework for providers to report errors to new patient safety organizations (PSOs) confidentially and with protections from liability. The proposed rule includes pharmacists among the list of providers that may voluntarily report information eligible for protection under the act. In its comments, ASHP advises AHRQ to revise the regulation so that patient safety reports that have been assembled by a provider but not yet reported to a PSO are protected. The Society also recommends that AHRQ require a patient safety evaluation system to be documented to ensure that it complies with confidentiality obligations.

Click here to read ASHP's comments to AHRQ.

American Society of Health-System Pharmacists