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The Quadruple Aim
Quadruple Aim

A Conceptual Framework

Improving the U.S. health care system requires four aims: improving the experience of care, improving the health of populations, reducing per capita costs and improving care team well-being. HITEQ Center resources seek to provide content and direction aligned with the goals of the Quadruple Aim

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This set of SAFER Guides can also be found on the HealthIT.gov website which includes further description and documentation. The SAFER Guides consist of nine guides organized into three broad groups. They are provided here on the HITEQ Center knowledgebase as well for easy access to Health Centers. These guides enable healthcare organizations to address EHR safety in a variety of areas. Most organizations will want to start with the Foundational Guides, and proceed from there to address their areas of greatest interest or concern. The guides identify recommended practices to optimize the safety and safe use of EHRs. The interactive PDF versions of the guides can be downloaded and completed locally for self-assessment of an organization’s degree of conformance to the Recommended Practices. The downloaded guides can be filled out, saved, and transmitted between team members.

2025 SAFER-8 Clinician Communication
Isabella Hill

2025 SAFER-8 Clinician Communication

A Resource Developed by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology

The Clinician Communication SAFER Guide identifies recommended safety practices for communication among clinicians, care teams, and patients. This guide focuses on ensuring reliable electronic communication using EHR related messaging systems (e.g., SMS text messages, secure text messages, and EHR-based clinician-to-clinician messages) to facilitate care transitions such as discharges and referrals, and patient portal-related communication (such as appointment requests, result reporting to patients, and clinician-to-patient communication). Additionally, this guide covers the implementation of monitoring systems to identify opportunities for communication improvement.

Communication breakdowns are a common contributing factor in preventable adverse events. Optimal design, implementation, and use of EHR communication functionality can help ensure safe, transparent, and efficient information exchange among clinicians, support staff, ancillary services, patients, and their healthcare proxies.

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Acknowledgements

This resource collection was created by Joan Ash, Hardeep Singh, and Dean Sittig for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).