Skip to Main Content

Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality

Improving Outcomes and Eliminating Harm

The Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality 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

    operations icon

  • Research

    Advancing the science of safety and quality

    research icon

  • Education & Training

    Partnering with others to improve patient care

    education icon

  • Our Team

    Meet our community of safety and quality investigators

    faculty icon

  • About Us

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

    book icon

  • Donate

    Your gift can help improve patient safety and quality of care

    operations icon

Our Centers of Excellence

Armstrong Institute Spotlight

Toolkit for MRSA Prevention in ICU & Non-ICU Settings

Our expert, Lisa Maragakis, M.D., worked as the Principal Investigator in a program that created this first AHRQ toolkit for MRSA Prevention.

Learn more

July 9 – 11, 2024Matt Austin Speaks at Latin American Forum on Quality and Safety in Health Care

Matt Austin, Ph.D., presents at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Latin America Forum in Sao Paolo, Brazil on the Leapfrog Group’s approach to bringing greater transparency to the quality of care delivered in US hospitals.

Learn more
white flask icon

August 27 - 29, 2024Dr. Ayse Gurses selected as a keynote speaker at Human Systems Integration International Conference 

Ayse P. Gurses, Ph.D., M.S. has been selected as a keynote speaker at the Human Systems Integration International Conference. She will discuss the increasing and urgent need for infusing Human Systems Integration (HSI) and Human Factors Engineering (HFE) principles and methods to improve safety and quality.

Learn more
Headshot of Ayse Gurses

May 5 - 6, 2024Armstrong Experts Present at JHAH Annual Patient Safety Conference

Drs. Peter Najjar, Laura Sigman, Paula Kent and Angela Green presented at the Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare 10th Annual Patient Safety Conference in Saudi Arabia.

Learn more
Peter Najjar, Laura Sigman, Paula Kent, and Angela Green with other conference participants at the JHAH Annual Patient Safety Conference 2024

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

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.
Chart and data icon

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.
Heart icon

Implementing Pressure Injury Prevention in the ER

In this podcast, Lisa Grubb, D.N.P., M.S.N., R.N., joins host Dr. Joyce Black as she shares her journey demonstrating how to prevent pressure injuries starting in the ER.
Health discussion icon

The implementation of a “safety officer” program: an innovative approach to improve infection prevention and control practices in Ethiopia

In this article, Paula Kent, Dr.P.H., M.S.N., M.B.A., R.N., C.P.P.S. and  Albert Wu, M.D., and discuss that the presence of safety officers would improve hospital staff knowledge and adherence to infection prevention and control guidelines thereby reducing the infection risk and fostering a greater sense of safety among healthcare workers.
Doctor with a shield icon

Communication After Medical Error: The Need to Measure the Patient Experience

In this editorial, Allen Kachalia, M.D., J.D., and colleagues discuss the need to measure how well communication and resolution programs (CRPs) are implemented, their emotional outcomes of patients and how these measures help us to understand what is and isn't working when supporting patients who have been harmed.
Reviewing paper icon

Hospital-to-Home-Health Transition Quality (H3TQ) Index Further Evidence on its Validity and Recommendations for Implementation

Alicia Arbaje, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., Yea-Jen Hsu, Ph.D., Ayse Gurses, Ph.D., Jill Marsteller, Ph.D., M.P.P., and collaborators recently published an article in Quality Management in Health Care (QMHC), which focuses on safety of transitions of care from hospital into home care. The initial development of the Hospital-to-Home-Health Transition Quality (H3TQ) instrument, a 12-question screener to assess the quality of transitional care delivery was featured in a special section of the July issue of QMHC on measurement of patient experience.
Quality paper icon

View more news and publications

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
Graphic of a hand holding up numerous healthcare icons.

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.

Learn more

Request Assistance for Quality and Safety Projects

Information on how to seek advice or help from the Armstrong Institute to further your research or patient safety and quality projects

Learn more

"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
Watch on YouTube -

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.

Donate now

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.

Get Updates

Follow us on Twitter - @JHM_Armstrong

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

Follow Us
twitter icon