New Summary Highlights Research on Teamwork and Leadership To Advance Safety

Improving Healthcare Safety by Enhancing Teamwork and Leadership (PDF, 1 MB) is the fourth in a series of AHRQ publications that summarize the agency’s investments in patient safety research as a pathway toward safer care. Research has shown that improved teamwork reduces the number of medical errors and improves patient safety. Since 2000, AHRQ has supported 55 patient safety projects to improve communication among healthcare providers and enhance leadership skills of those in charge. AHRQ-funded projects have resulted in nearly 230 publications in areas such as the use of team strategies and tools to improve performance and approaches to team-based error disclosure on adverse events.