Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra on Nov. 14 joined with leaders from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Food and Drug Administration to hold a patient safety listening session.
HHS leaders also announced plans to launch in 2023 a National Healthcare System Action Alliance to Advance Patient Safety (the Action Alliance). The Action Alliance will begin as a learning community, with participants sharing evidence-based approaches to improving patient and health care worker safety through expert mentorship and peer-to-peer learning.
At the HHS convening, health system leaders emphasized the need to mitigate barriers to patient safety, such as workforce shortages and burnout, increased labor costs, and inadequate reimbursement. Attendees also called on HHS to reduce regulatory burden so that efforts can be focused on patient care and safety.
HHS plans to release a video of the event, along with a request for information seeking public input on the Action Alliance.
Contact Senior Director of Policy Erin O’Malley at eomalley@essentialhospitals.org or 202.585.0127 with questions.
