New Dashboard to Track Progress Toward 50 Percent Reduction in Patient and Workforce Harm

Today, the National Action Alliance for Patient and Workforce Safety (NAA) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched the National Healthcare Safety Dashboard, an online resource that aggregates hospital safety data from four primary measurement sources. Thus, the dashboard creates one comprehensive resource for understanding the current state of patient and workforce safety.

“Safety is critically important for patients and the healthcare workforce,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “During the Biden-Harris Administration, we have increased access to affordable, quality care and improved conditions and opportunities for the dedicated workers who care for us and our loved ones. Building on these successes, we are taking an important step to improve safety for patients and the health workforce.”

The Secretary’s Health Workforce Initiative works to bring together all the different areas across the Department that are focused on workforce issues—to help maximize the impact of their efforts.

NAA is a collective of federal agencies and private partners led by the HHS Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The AHRQ National Advisory Council, which makes recommendations to the HHS secretary and director on healthcare improvement efforts, has established a goal of reducing patient and workforce harm by 50 percent from its pandemic-driven high by 2026.

The National Healthcare Safety Dashboard makes national safety data more transparent, allowing for a comprehensive understanding of healthcare safety by care setting, beginning with hospital care. It opens doors to information and best practices to empower healthcare provider organizations, patient advocates, policymakers, professional associations and others to monitor national safety progress and make informed decisions to improve safety nationwide.

The initial version of the dashboard offers access to hospital safety data and will expand to include other healthcare settings, such as ambulatory clinics and nursing homes. The data sources include:

• AHRQ’s Hospital Patient Safety Indicators from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project
• AHRQ’s Hospital Medicare Adverse Events from the Quality and Safety Review System
• The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Hospital Reporting Program Safety Measures
• AHRQ’s Surveys on Patient Safety Culture® (SOPS®) Hospital Survey

“With the launch of the National Healthcare Safety Dashboard, we are taking a significant step toward leveraging Departmental data to advance safe care everywhere and zero preventable harm for all, including patients and the healthcare workforce,” said Dr. Robert Valdez, AHRQ Director. “This tool allows the healthcare community to track progress and identify areas where we can together drive meaningful change. The dashboard represents a significant advancement in making care delivery safer, more transparent and accountable.”

As suggested in the National Action Plan for Patient Safety, healthcare organizations can recommit to their safety journey by conducting a baseline safety self-assessment to identify priority areas for improvement. From there, they can access the NAA's various tools and resources, including a curated list of federally sponsored safety tools, implementation initiatives open for recruitment, peer group learning activities and funding opportunities supporting targeted safety improvements.

As healthcare organizations implement these initiatives and work collectively across the NAA, the National Healthcare Safety Dashboard becomes an essential tool that allows the healthcare community to monitor progress and offers insights to guide further action.

The National Healthcare Safety Dashboard is now live and accessible to the public. Given the importance of this topic, HHS also will work with partners to enhance the dashboard with additional data sources, such as workplace safety, other provider types and stratified data where available. HHS welcomes feedback on the dashboard, which can be shared via email at NationalActionAlliance@hhs.gov.

You may view the Dashboard here: https://datatools.ahrq.gov/action-alliance/.

About the National Action Alliance

The National Action Alliance (NAA) for Patient and Workforce Safety is a collective effort of federal agencies and private partners working together to improve the safety of patients' and healthcare workers' safety. The NAA catalyzes change by applying known harm reduction strategies, sharing best practices and lessons learned and tracking our progress on healthcare safety with the recognition that healthcare is not safe until it is safe for all.