Patient safety education: what was, what is, and what will be?

Patient safety is an important topic that has been receiving more attention in the current health care climate. Patient safety as a curriculum topic in medical schools has only become apparent in the late 1990 s, and much more needs to be done. This article summarizes patient safety curricular content as it occurred (or did not occur) in medical education circles in the past (pre-1990 s), and present.

Effectiveness of outreach to patients with diabetes who have fallen out of regular care at a federally qualified health center.

Re-engaging patients who have fallen out of regular care is a challenge for all primary care practices, but especially for federally qualified health centers (FQHCs). We implemented and evaluated a system of proactive telephone and mail outreach within an FQHC serving a predominantly Latino and Spanish-speaking population for patients with diabetes who had not had a visit to the health center for at least six months. The primary study outcome was the proportion of patients who completed a follow-up visit within three months of the outreach.