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Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality

Improving Outcomes and Eliminating Harm

The Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality, located in Baltimore, Maryland, provides an infrastructure that oversees, coordinates and supports patient safety and quality efforts across Johns Hopkins' integrated health care system. Our mission is to eliminate patient harm, achieve best patient outcomes at the lowest possible cost and share that knowledge through our research and trainings.

  • Clinical Operations

    Providing highest quality and safest care at Johns Hopkins Medicine

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  • Research

    Advancing the science of safety and quality

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  • Education & Training

    Partnering with others to improve patient care

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  • Our Team

    Meet our community of safety and quality investigators

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  • About Us

    Learn about our history, the work we do and how to join the Armstrong team

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  • Donate

    Your gift can help improve patient safety and quality of care

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Our Centers of Excellence

Armstrong Institute Spotlight

Career OpportunityOpen Position - Administrative Coordinator II

This open position is responsible for managing and coordinating a variety of department projects, activities, reports, schedules, collection and management of data for projects and work in progress.

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Dec. 17, 2024Armstrong Institute at the 2024 Leapfrog Annual Meeting

The Armstrong Institute co-hosted this year's Leapfrog Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner best practices poster session, with Matt Austin, Ph.D. as the M.C. Angela Green, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N.,  and Stacy Shilling, M.S., R.N., presented on our partnership with PACT on Communication & Resolution Programs implementation.

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Photo of Matt Austin, Angela Green, Stacy Shilling and others at the 2024 Leapfrog Annual Meeting.

How Did a Surgeon in Florida Mistake a Man’s Liver for His Spleen?

Matt Austin, Ph.D., joins colleagues as they discuss "never events", named as such as they are considered preventable errors with grave consequences that should never happen, and how these types of events can be devastating for patients, but still need to be discussed and examined to prevent them from happening.

Read the article

Generation Tomorrow: Summer Health Disparity Scholars Program

Risha Irvin, M.D., M.P.H., (Multi-PI) received an NIH supplement through the Center for AIDS Research totaling 1.5 million over the next 3 years to support Generation Tomorrow: Summer Health Disparity Scholars along with Drs. Denis Antoine and Nathan Irvin.  This program trains undergraduate students in HIV and hepatitis C virus health disparities and their intersection with substance use, mental health, violence and the social determinants of health. 

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November 5, 2024Wilson Lamy and Caitlin Roscoe present at Inova Performance Improvement Symposium

Wilson Lamy and Caitlin Roscoe presented the Johns Hopkins Medicine Tiered Huddle Standards at the Inova PI Symposium. These standards focus on optimizing communication and operational effectiveness within a healthcare system.

Wilson Lamy and Caitlin Roscoe standing at a table with a blue cloth over it, with the Inova logo on it.

INSIGHTS FROM THE ARMSTRONG INSTITUTEVoices for Safer Care

Voices for Safer Care is a blog from the Armstrong Insititute that serves as a forum for health care professionals, patients and others who are committed to ending preventable harm, improving patients’ outcomes and experiences, and reducing waste in health care.

Visit the blog

Other Featured News and Research

Development of an evidence- and consensus-based Digital Healthcare Equity Framework

In this publication, Matt Austin, Ph.D., and colleagues discuss a Digital Healthcare Equity Framework that can serve as a tool to help users and other stakeholders assess whether their healthcare solutions that involve digital technologies are equitable at every phase of the digital healthcare lifecycle.
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Dr. Rishi Irvin to Co-Host Public Health Tract of the Global Hepatitis Summit

Risha Irvin, M.D., M.P.H. will co-chair the Public Health Tract of the Global Hepatitis Summit in Los Angeles, California in March 2025.
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Effectiveness of Implementation of an Enhanced Recovery Program in Bariatric Surgery

Matt Austin, Ph.D. joins collaborators in the study which reviews the association between implementation of the ERAS program in bariatric surgery, specific outcomes and the value to both patients and health systems.
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Measuring Improvement Capabilities in a Health System: Findings From a Content Validity Study

In this publication, Steve Meurer Ph.D., M.B.A., M.H.S, and his colleague examine why measurable improvements are difficult to in the American Healthcare System through a survey of a outdated 2002 quality improvement methodology and a discussion with subject matter experts. From this review, three reasons emerged as to why a lack of improvement occurs in key metrics.
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Perspectives on Anesthesia and Perioperative Patient Safety: Past, Present, and Future

In this study, Anna Varughese, M.B.B.S., M.D., M.P.H., and colleagues examine the evolution of patient safety science over the past 70 years and how it has evolved through four organizational frameworks. This evolution reflects the realization over time that blaming people, chasing errors, fixing one-offs and regulation would not create the desired patient safety.
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Pediatric Ambulatory Anesthesia: Confronting Challenges, Embracing Opportunities

In this publication, Anna Varughese, M.B.B.S., M.D., M.P.H., joins colleagues as they discuss the current sustained growth in pediatric ambulatory surgery and how this new period presents unique challenges and exciting opportunities to improve patient care and outcomes.
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Improving Patient Safety and Quality at Johns Hopkins and Throughout the World

The Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality’s efforts aim to champion patient safety and provide high-quality, compassionate care to all patients, at home and around the globe.

Learn about patient safety at Johns Hopkins Medicine Learn about our collaborative efforts
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Our Patient Safety and Quality Projects

The Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality leads regional, national and international projects that reduce preventable harm, improve patient and clinical outcomes, and decrease health care costs. We apply a scientific approach to improvement, employing robust measures and rigorous data-collection methods that can be broadly disseminated and sustained.

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Request Assistance

Seeking advice or help from the Armstrong Institute to further your research or patient safety and quality projects? Fill out one of the forms below and our team will be in contact with you shortly. 

"Never Again”

Sharing his personal story of how a medical error severely impacted his life, C. Michael Armstrong, past chairman of the board of trustees of Johns Hopkins Medicine, explains his commitment to health care improvement and the creation of the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality.

Learn about Our History
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The Power of Giving!

Our goal is to eliminate preventable harm to patients and to achieve the best patient outcomes at the lowest cost possible, and then to share knowledge of how to achieve this goal with the world.The research and improvement programs of the Armstrong Institute directly benefit patients by reducing medical errors and complications, improving clinical outcomes, and delivering care that treats patients with the dignity and respect that they deserve.

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Stay in Contact

Interested in the latest trainings, research, resources and news from the Armstrong Institute? Join our mailing list and get it delivered to your inbox.

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Follow us on Twitter - @JHM_Armstrong

Improving #patientsafety & health care quality @HopkinsMedicine and globally. Dedicated to eliminating harm, optimizing patient outcomes & reducing waste.

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