Implementation, evaluation, and recommendations for extension of AHRQ Common Formats to capture patient- and carepartner-generated safety data

OBJECTIVES: The Common Formats, published by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, represent a standard for safety event reporting used by Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs). We evaluated its ability to capture patient-reported safety events. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We formally evaluated gaps between the Common Formats and a safety concern reporting system for use by patients and their carepartners (ie friends/families) at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. RESULTS: Overall, we found large gaps between Common Formats (versions 1.2, 2.0) and our patient/carepartner reporting system, with only 22–30% of the data elements matching. DISCUSSION: We recommend extensions to the Common Formats, including concepts that capture greater detail about the submitter and safety categories relevant to unsafe conditions and near misses that patients and carepartners routinely observe. CONCLUSION: Extensions to the Common Formats could enable more complete safety data sets and greater understanding of safety from key stakeholder perspectives, especially patients, and carepartners.