May 2026 CPHQ Prep Virtual Class-Module 4: Patient Safety

Module 4: Patient Safety | Slide Deck

Pdf Summary

Module 4 focuses on patient safety as a core organizational responsibility and reviews the elements needed to build and sustain a strong culture of safety. It emphasizes that patient safety is promoted through reliable systems, staff education, open communication, and encouragement of error and near-miss reporting—supported by an environment where fear of retaliation is eliminated.<br /><br />The module highlights that long-term success of a patient safety program depends on involving the entire organization, not just a quality committee. Learners review key safety concepts and event classifications, including medical errors and sentinel events (events resulting in death or permanent harm not related to the natural course of illness). The course reinforces structured approaches to learning from events and preventing recurrence, including using Root Cause Analysis (RCA) with a multidisciplinary team to identify underlying system causes, and using Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) proactively as a preventive tool before incidents occur.<br /><br />The module also connects patient safety work to broader improvement methods such as systems thinking, high reliability principles, and human factors engineering, along with the role of technology in reducing errors.<br /><br />Risk management is addressed as a related discipline, covering typical functions (e.g., education, maintenance/monitoring, and claims management) and outlining the risk management process—beginning with identifying exposures, then implementing and evaluating mitigation actions.<br /><br />Overall, the module prepares participants to assess safety culture, integrate safety activities across departments, use technology and systems approaches to reduce harm, and participate in key safety and risk processes such as incident reporting, sentinel event review, RCA, and FMEA.

Keywords

patient safety culture

organizational responsibility

error and near-miss reporting

non-punitive reporting environment

sentinel events

medical error classification

Root Cause Analysis (RCA)

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)

high reliability principles

risk management process