Common Formats

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Common Formats

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) coordinates the development of Common Formats for event reporting to Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs). This activity is authorized by the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (Patient Safety Act) and the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement final rule (Patient Safety Rule).

The Common Formats optimize the opportunity for the public and private sectors to learn more about trends and patterns in patient safety, with the purpose of improving health care quality. The Common Formats will:

Accelerate development of the ability to aggregate comparable patient safety information to identify new opportunities for safety improvement
Increase the willingness of health care providers to participate in such efforts
Set the stage for breakthroughs in understanding how best to improve patient safety

To read the Common Formats notice published in the Federal Register, go to http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/E8-19910.htm (PDF file; PDF Help).

What Are Common Formats?

The term "Common Formats" is used to describe the technical requirements and reporting specifications that allow health care providers to collect and submit standardized information regarding patient safety events. The scope of Common Formats will apply to all patient safety concerns, including:

Incidents—patient safety events that reached the patient, whether or not there was harm;
Near misses or close calls—patient safety events that did not reach the patient; and
Unsafe conditions.

AHRQ's Common Formats include:

Descriptions of patient safety events and unsafe conditions to be reported,
Delineation of data elements to be collected for different types of events,
Examples of patient safety population reports,
A metadata registry with data element attributes and technical specifications,
Paper forms to allow immediate implementation, and
A users guide.

The initial release of the Common Formats, Version 0.1 Beta, is currently limited to patient safety reporting for hospital inpatients. Future versions of the Common Formats will be developed for other settings, such as nursing homes, ambulatory surgery centers, and physician and practitioner offices.

PSO Common Formats logo

The "AHRQ Common Formats" logo may be displayed by any organization that is using the Common Formats developed by AHRQ. Please note that an entity does not need to be listed as a PSO by the HHS Secretary to employ the Common Formats and thus display the logo.

How Did AHRQ Develop the Common Formats?

AHRQ convened an interagency Federal Patient Safety Work Group (PSWG) to develop the Common Formats. The PSWG includes major health agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Food and Drug Administration, Health Resources and Services Administration, Indian Health Service (IHS), National Institutes of Health, Office of the National Coordinator, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration—as well as the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

The PSWG reviewed existing patient safety event reporting systems from a variety of health care organizations (select for list). After this review, the PSWG developed draft Common Formats and made them available for pilot testing within DoD, IHS, and VA facilities. These pilot tests were designed to provide guidance to the PSWG to refine and revise the Common Formats.

How Will the Data Be Used?

The Patient Safety Act provided for the HHS Secretary to facilitate the creation of a network of patient safety databases, to which PSOs, providers, or others can voluntarily contribute nonidentifiable patient safety work product. This network will be maintained as an interactive, evidence-based management resource for providers, PSOs, and other entities. The statute directs AHRQ to use data from the network to analyze national and regional statistics, including trends and patterns, regarding patient safety events. Findings are to be made public and included in AHRQ's annual National Healthcare Quality Report.

How Will AHRQ Continue To Refine the Common Formats?

AHRQ is committed to continuing refinement of the Common Formats. The Agency is specifically interested in obtaining feedback from both the private and public sectors—particularly from those who use the Common Formats—and it has established a process to receive initial feedback that will guide rapid improvement of the formats.

Using the feedback received, AHRQ plans to release a second version of the formats in 6-9 months, or perhaps sooner, depending on the nature of the initial feedback. Once the formats are stabilized, AHRQ plans to release new versions annually.

AHRQ plans to maintain information on the Common Formats, including technical specifications, data element definitions, and vendor specifications, at The United States Health Information Knowledgebase (USHIK).

Where Can I Find the Common Formats?

To allow for immediate implementation of the Common Formats, AHRQ prepared paper forms for use by PSOs. These forms, as well as accompanying user information, are available on the PSO Privacy Protection Center (PPC) Web site as printable electronic files. AHRQ funded the PPC to facilitate the sharing of nonidentifiable PSO information and to provide technical assistance to PSOs. AHRQ will be providing specifications in the future that will allow development of software to automate the Common Formats.

How Can I Comment on the Common Formats?

AHRQ has contracted with the National Quality Forum (NQF), a nonprofit organization focused on health care quality, to assist with gathering and analyzing feedback on the Common Formats. AHRQ plans to issue updates and revisions based upon user input. Go to the NQF Web site for Common Formats to provide feedback.