ORQA FORMS PATIENT SAFETY ORGANIZATION

Peoria, IL—May 4, 2009— ORQA, LLC is listed as a Patient Safety Organization (PSO) by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), on behalf of the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

PSOs are designed to help clinicians, hospitals and health care organizations improve the care they deliver to patients by encouraging them to conduct quality and safety analyses. Through federal protections of legal privilege and confidentiality, which are authorized by the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005, PSOs foster a culture of safety and create a secure environment where providers can collect and analyze data to identify and reduce the risks and hazards associated with patient care.

“ORQA was founded to eliminate the technical barriers limiting clinician participation in patient safety,” said Mike O’Meara, ORQA’s Founder and President, “but only through the protection offered by being listed as a PSO have we been able to address concerns about disclosure of data and liability.  ORQA’s listing as a PSO is a perfect fit with our software and service solutions designed for today’s complex environment of care.”

PSOs also are designed to aggregate data across multiple health care provider groups, which will help identify issues quickly and allow improved early warning and communication about ways of reducing risk and improving quality. As de-identified data become available from PSOs, a Network of Patient Safety Databases will receive, analyze, and report trend data nationally which will be included in AHRQ’s annual National Healthcare Quality Report.

“We know that clinicians and health care organizations want to participate in efforts to improve patient care, but they often are inhibited by fears of liability and sanctions,” said AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D. “PSOs facilitate a shared-learning approach that supports effective interventions to reduce risk of harm to patients and improve quality.”

To learn more about PSOs or to view an updated directory of all listed PSOs, visit the AHRQ PSO Web site at http://www.pso.ahrq.gov

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