Improve Patient Safety Across Your Organization
Strengthening Patient Safety and Reliability
Preventable harm can result from diagnostic errors, medication mistakes, communication gaps, and complex workflows. When safety efforts are fragmented, risks accumulate and opportunities to learn are lost.
IHI helps organizations design patient safety into everyday systems, creating more reliable care for patients, families, and healthcare teams. IHI patient safety consulting combines improvement science, safety expertise, data, and co-design to help leaders and frontline teams:
- Build leadership commitment and a strong culture of safety
- Create resilient systems that continuously learn and improve
- Prevent errors, reduce delays, and strengthen operational reliability
- Engage patients, families, and the workforce in safer care
How IHI Helps Organizations Design Safer Systems
IHI combines improvement science with a total systems approach to identify root causes, anticipate failure points, and learn from both harm and successful care.
IHI consulting brings improvement science directly to your teams, applying a total systems approach to identify root causes of harm and proactively assess failure points, moving beyond reactive safety (Safety-I) toward learning from what goes right (Safety-II).
Using practical improvement methods, evidence-based practices, and test changes using PDSA cycles and measurement strategies, we help organizations strengthen communication, build leadership accountability, and sustain improvements in safety across settings and at every level of an organization.
Designing Systems for Patient Safety
IHI partners with health systems, ministries, professional associations, foundations, and global organizations to strengthen patient safety through coordinated system-wide improvement and scalable learning models.
Explore how IHI works with partners across sectors to strengthen patient safety, spread proven approaches, and achieve sustainable improvement at scale.
Health Systems and Regional Partners
IHI partners with health systems and ministries of health worldwide to embed patient safety and improvement capability into care delivery. Partners include Massachusetts General Hospital, the VA National Center for Patient Safety, East London NHS Foundation Trust, Hamad Medical Corporation, Singapore’s Ministry of Health, and Ethiopia’s Federal Ministry of Health.
Result: Safer, more reliable care supported by systems designed to learn and improve over time.
Foundations and Strategic Partners
IHI works with foundations and strategic partners to advance innovation and learning in patient safety. Partners include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, St. Jude Global, and The Health Foundation (UK). IHI also collaborates with Philips, Medtronic, Baxter, and Merck to help spread safer practices.
Result: Tested models, shared evidence, and sustained investment that enable safety improvements to scale across settings.
Global Organizations and National Coalitions
IHI collaborates with international bodies and national coalitions to advance patient safety through coordinated, system-level improvement. This includes IHI's work with the World Health Organization (WHO) on global patient safety priorities as well as leading, initiating, and co-chairing the National Steering Committee for Patient Safety. Similar collaborations such as Patients for Patient Safety US, the Pursuing Equity Initiative, and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s HealthyNYC focus on advancing care equity. Globally, IHI maintains partnerships with ministries of health throughout Africa to reduce preventable maternal deaths from key obstetric complications; in the Middle East, IHI collaborates on scaling Saudi Arabia’s Age-Friendly Health Systems Collaborative with the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs to embed the internationally recognized 4Ms Framework.
Result: Shared frameworks, aligned priorities, and scalable approaches that reduce harm worldwide.
Build Practical Patient Safety Skills with IHI Online Courses
Explore flexible online courses designed for healthcare professionals at every career stage. Build practical skills in patient safety, quality improvement, human factors, resilience, and event review through learning that fits your schedule. Apply proven approaches to strengthen safety practices, support effective teamwork, and lead meaningful improvement across healthcare settings.
Explore How IHI Helps to Advance a Total Systems Approach to Safety
IHI equips your clinicians, leaders, and teams with improvement science expertise and practical safety strategies. Our team works directly with your teams to apply and integrate proven safety practices into daily operations and drive measurable, lasting improvement.
- Leading a Culture of Safety: A Blueprint for Success (Guide)
Practical strategies to assess and strengthen safety culture. - A Framework for Safe, Reliable, Effective Care (White Paper)
Core components for safe, reliable, and effective care. - National Action Plan to Advance Patient Safety (Report)
17 recommendations for reducing harm across care settings. - IHI Lucian Leape Institute: Improving Patient Safety (Resource)
Research and ideas shaping the future of patient safety. - Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS) (Certification)
Accredited certification in patient safety principles and practice. - IHI Open School: Patient Safety Curriculum (Courses)
On-demand courses for foundational and advanced safety skills.
Transform Your Organization Into a Culture of Safety
IHI equips your clinicians, leaders, and teams with improvement science expertise and practical safety strategies. Our team works directly with your teams to apply and integrate proven safety practices into daily operations and drive measurable, lasting improvement.
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