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Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality

Clinical Operations

The Clinical Operations team at The Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality is focused on ensuring and supporting the safest and highest quality of care throughout Johns Hopkins Medicine. The team focuses on continuous improvement and defining the future of quality and safety.

A distinguishing characteristic keeping Johns Hopkins at the forefront of patient safety is the successful translation of research into operations and practice to continuously improve patient care.

Our Priorities

Achieve Clinical Excellence
Provide Outstanding Experiences
Eliminate Preventable Harm
Improve Healthcare Efficiency and Value

What We Do:

Champion Major Clinical Initiatives

The Armstrong Institute's clinical initiatives aim to solve common problems within the healthcare field and to improve patient care across the globe. Below are some of these health system initiatives:

System Shared Initiatives

  • Ambulatory HEDIS
  • Chaperone policy
  • Length of stay observed / expected
  • Mortality observed / expected
  • Likelihood to recommend
  • CLABSI Prevention
  • Sepsis – antibiotic timeliness in the emergency department
  • Health equity metrics and interventions

System Central Initiatives

  • Improving structure and process for improving sepsis outcomes – gap analysis and associated action plans
  • Risk assessment dashboard
  • Evolving the JHM quality and safety operating management system. 
  • Emergency department SMS automated updates
  • Just culture enablement

Integration initiatives

  • Cause analysis optimization
  • Communication and resolution program 
  • System governance
  • Specialty specific measures
  • High acuity program review
  • Chemotherapy orders
  • Mortality and morbidity review
  • Registry centralization
  • Instrument processing

Other Initiatives

Lead Research Projects at JHM

The Armstrong Institute is best known for its extensive work in the inpatient setting to reduce Hospital-Acquired Conditions (HACs), including central line associated blood stream infections, ventilator-associated events, surgical site infections, venous thromboembolism, delirium, muscular atrophy, diagnostic error, and patient loss of dignity. Publications by AI researchers are among the most highly cited papers in the field, led by the New England Journal paper on decreasing catheter-related blood stream infections, with over 4100 citations. 

Ongoing work includes antibiotic stewardship in hospitals, primary care and nursing homes, early recovery after surgery, and peer assistance for second victims of error (traumatized providers after an error or stressful patient-related event). Over the last few years, Armstrong Institute has expanded into new areas of research, including blood pressure control in primary care, errors in transitions to home health, patient-centeredness, and OB-GYN care.  We are viewed by our peer institutions one of the pre-eminent patient safety research entities in the world.

See more of our research work

Provide Training and Consultation

Throughout our consultations and courses, we work with like-minded organizations that share the Armstrong Institute’s vision of a health care system that harms less, wastes less and consistently provides high-quality, respectful care. We strive to expand patient safety and high-quality health care at home and around the globe. Our virtual workshops allow individuals or groups to work together while participants gain insights for embedding health care improvement efforts into their organizations. They head home with a deeper understanding of the structures, strategies and resources needed to take patient safety and quality.

Learn more about our consultations

HIGHLIGHTED PROJECTTowards Clear and Caring Communication Always

The Center for Patient-Centered Innovations partnering with patients and families to develop and evaluate a simulation-based program for training residents on ‘information sharing’ and ‘caring’ aspects of patient-centered communication.

Read more
nurse reviewing prescription bottle with patient

Provide Patient and Family Resources

Johns Hopkins is committed to providing you and your loved ones a respectful and positive experience. Our staff are here to listen and help address any concerns you may have.