Certified Patient Safety Organization Workforce (CPSOW) Training

The Certified PSO Workforce (CPSOW) Training Course is a comprehensive, instructional program designed for PSO Workforce professionals seeking to deepen their understanding of patient safety law, PSO operations, and practical application of Patient Safety Evaluation Systems (PSES).

AQIPS sets the industry standard for PSO workforce competencies and professional development. This training course provides the foundational knowledge and applied learning experiences required to support patient safety work, protect Patient Safety Work Product (PSWP), and improve quality of care across the healthcare continuum.

Through six in-depth modules, participants explore legal duties and professional responsibilities under the Patient Safety Act, how statutory protections function in real-world settings, and how PSO Workforce professionals can design, implement, and sustain effective patient safety programs.

This course is instructional and preparatory in nature and is intended to be completed prior to enrolling in the Certified PSO Workforce Examination.

What Participants Will Learn

Upon completion of the CPSOW Training Course, participants will be able to:

• Explain PSWP and provider protections, including Privilege, Confidentiality, and Immunity
• Demonstrate a working knowledge of PSO operations, PSES structures, and Patient Safety Activities
• Apply PSES principles to real-world scenarios involving event reporting, analysis, and peer review
• Develop and evaluate policies, procedures, and PSES diagrams to support compliant patient safety work
• Identify and apply tools used in security risk assessments
• Analyze case-based scenarios to strengthen problem-solving and decision-making skills
• Create mechanisms that support appropriate sharing of PSWP across the healthcare continuum
• Promote patient-centered quality and safety improvement
• Review and interpret key PSWP-related case law

Course Structure

The CPSOW Training Course consists of six instructional modules:

• Module 1: Professional Responsibility. This module provides an overview of the PSO workforce’s legal duties, professional responsibilities, and workforce competencies under the Patient Safety Act and Rules. Training Objectives:
  • Discover what the Goals of the PSO Workforce Certification Program are
  • Learn what the role of the PSO Workforce is, including the Authorized Official
  • Isolate the Legal Duties of the PSO Workforce
  • Identify the PSO Workforce Professional's responsibility to participating providers
  • Focus on the special knowledge (competencies) needed by the PSO Workforce

• Module 2: Basics of PSQIA Operation and Terms. The Patient Safety Act institutes new processes and new statutory definitions. This module provides an introduction to how the Patient Safety Act processes are used to improve patient safety and the quality of patient care delivery. Training Objectives:
  • Explore Patient Safety Act terms and definitions
  • Discover how the Patient Safety Evaluation System operates and how Patient Safety Activities function within the Patient Safety Evaluation System
  • Learn how to design a PSES for reporting, analyzing, and discussing PSWP

• Module 3: PSES Processes and PSWP Pathways, Including Patient Safety Event Report Investigation Scenarios. PSES processes and PSWP Pathways, including event report investigation scenarios and designing innovative programs. Training Objectives:
  • Explore how Patient Safety Activities function within the Patient Safety Evaluation System
  • Learn how each of the three PSWP definitional pathways operates and the requirements for each
  • Consider strategies to improve the effectiveness of the Patient Safety Evaluation System.

• Module 4: Disclosures and Uses of PSWP. The PSQIA is a disclosure statute that permits the protected disclosure of PSWP to healthcare providers and professionals for patient safety activities while maintaining the confidentiality of PSWP and privacy rights for healthcare providers. Training Objectives:
  • Identify the disclosure permissions for providers and PSOs and learn how they operate.
  • Explore how principles of just culture are used in determining when to make a disclosure to law enforcement and for the use of PSWP in criminal proceedings.
  • Learn how to use the disclosure permission to make disclosures to Oversight agencies when desired.
  • Discuss how to disclose PSWP to patients while maintaining the protections for the PSWP.
  • Learn how to “use” PSWP within the legal entity for any purpose.

• Module 5: Practical Application, Including Peer-to-Peer Scenarios and Case Law. The Patient Safety Act was designed to permit PSOs and health care providers to create innovative programs to improve the quality of patient care delivery. Training Objectives:
  • Learn how to conduct safe-tables using disclosure permissions and the deliberations and analysis pathway to create feedback and solutions in a learning system.
  • Learn how to design PSES programs for provider entities to improve the quality of patient care.

• Module 6: Confidentiality and Security Training. The Patient Safety Act requires that Patient Safety Work Product (PSWP) be confidential and not be disclosed by anyone holding the PSWP, except as permitted by law. Training objectives:
  • Review the Confidentiality and security requirements for PSWP.
  • Learn how and when the confidentiality protections attach.
  • Identify who is subject to the confidentiality protections.
  • Be able to distinguish permissible from impermissible disclosures and create disclosure agreements to document permissible disclosures.

Each module is designed to build progressively toward applied understanding and readiness for certification.

Relationship to Certification

Completion of the CPSOW Training Course is required before enrolling in the Certified PSO Workforce (CPSOW) Examination.

Successful completion of the exam results in CPSOW certification. Annual Confidentiality and PSQIA Update Training is required to maintain certification status.

Course Faculty:

	Justin Burton, MBA, BSN, RN, CPPS, CPHQ, NE-BC Director Justin is a Registered Nurse with over 18 years of hospital experience, including critical care, transplant, neuroscience, data analytics, quality improvement, and Risk/Patient safety. Justin has been recognized as a leader, educator, and innovator who utilizes creativity and experience to drive project management, process improvement, and patient safety. Email: Justin.Burton@unthealth.edu
	Jennifer Barrow, MSN, CPPS Patient Safety and Quality Executive Jennifer is a Registered Nurse with over 10 years of hospital experience, including emergency services, pediatrics, outpatient surgical services, Risk/Patient safety, and quality improvement. Jennifer is dedicated to improving the quality and safety of health care through inspiring and continuous process improvement efforts, professional experience, and transformational leadership. Jennifer aims to collaborate with health care leaders to keep patient safety the top priority and ensure the highest quality care is delivered to our community. Email: Jennifer.Barrow@unthealth.edu
	Peggy Binzer, JD Executive Director, Alliance for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (AQIPS) "We can create a safety culture by allowing health care professionals to share analysis on how to prevent medical incidents with absolute confidentiality and insulated from discovery in litigation."   Peggy Binzer serves as the Executive Director of the Alliance for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety, the nation’s leading professional association for PSOs and their healthcare provider members that leads efforts to measurably improve patient safety and the quality of patient care by fostering the ability of providers to implement a culture of safety and high reliability. Peggy spearheaded the crafting and passage of the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act (PSQIA) while serving as senior health counsel for the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. As a partner in several law firms, she assisted hospital and specialty physician associations, health systems, and management organizations in becoming patient safety organizations (PSOs), provided health systems, pharmacy chains, and other providers with legal guidance to improve the quality of patient care and implement the PSQIA's protections (Patient Safety Evaluation System).