U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America	Frequent Questions Search

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The federal agencies leading this effort include the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA).

The goal of this Task Force is to identify the data that health care providers, states, and others need to collect to improve patient safety. To start this process, the task force next week will release a contract request to develop a detailed plan on how to integrate the existing reporting systems in a way that minimizes burden, provides those who must submit reports an opportunity to learn, and improves the safety of health care services.

"Top-quality health care is a hallmark for America, and this administration is committed to patient safety and reduction of medical errors as a key priority," Secretary Thompson said. "As one part of our commitment, I am charging the Patient Safety Task Force to work thoroughly and expeditiously to improve our data and reporting systems. Working with our state and private sector partners, we can make much better use of the information we already collect, and we can translate that information into quality gains for patients. At the same time, we will streamline the reporting burdens that providers face today, and we will make important findings more accessible, more quickly to the providers who need to know."

CDC, FDA, and HCFA presently operate a number of systems to collect information that helps to monitor health care safety; compliance with existing regulations on blood products, devices, drugs; and the safety of patients in Medicare-funded institutions. Secretary Thompson has charged the Task Force with studying how to implement a user-friendly Internet-based patient safety reporting format. This will enable faster cross-matching and electronic analysis of data, and more rapid responses to patient safety problems.

This Task Force is holding an April 23-24 summit, in Reston, Va., on the collection and use of patient safety data. The summit is being attended by representatives of medical professional organizations, state health departments, state licensure boards, accrediting bodies, patient advocacy groups and others with an interest in patient safety reporting. These groups will provide ongoing input on how to enhance the value of the data collected without creating any new federal reporting requirements.

HHS' fiscal year 2002 budget proposal includes up $72 million, an increase of $15 million over fiscal year 2001, for efforts to improve patient safety and reduce adverse events.

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