Category: Patient Safety

Supporting Patients During Transitions Between Levels of Care

By Alex Alonso (COO and Co-Founder, Bright Futures Treatment)

Research consistently shows that the period immediately following a change in treatment intensity is one of the most vulnerable moments in a patient’s recovery. A person who has just completed inpatient care and is moving into a partial hospitalization program, or stepping from PHP into an intensive outpatient program, faces a sudden reduction in structure — and, with it, a rise in risk. Supporting patients during transitions between levels of care is not a secondary concern; it is central to whether the gains made in treatment carry forward or erode. Understanding what makes these handoffs dangerous — and what makes them work — is essential for clinicians, families, and anyone involved in a patient’s recovery journey.

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When Stress Triggers Health Risks: Protecting Patients in Recovery

Stress triggers health risks in recovery by raising cravings, disrupting sleep, and straining your body. Learn how to spot early signs & protect your sobriety.

By Alex Alonso (COO and Co-Founder, Bright Futures Treatment Center)

Stress isn’t always a single big event. Sometimes it’s a string of small things – poor sleep, a tense conversation, money pressure, an unexpected schedule change. But when it happens during recovery? It can hit harder than you expect. It can raise blood pressure, disrupt sleep, weaken your immune response, and increase cravings, especially early on in the process. To help you stay on the safe side of your sobriety, we’ll break down how and when stress triggers health risks and how you can protect your health without trying to power through it.

A visibly upset person holding their head outdoors at sunset - visual representation of when stress triggers health risks during recover

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Advancing Women’s Heart Health Through Prevention, Equity, and Partnership

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death for women in the United States, yet it continues to be under-recognized, under-diagnosed, and under-treated—particularly among women who face economic, geographic, and systemic barriers to care. Despite decades of progress in cardiovascular medicine, far too many women still lack access to early screening, preventive services, and evidence-based education that could dramatically reduce their risk of heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular events.

This gap in care is not due to a lack of science. We know that early identification of risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia—combined with counseling, follow-up, and community support—can save lives. The challenge has been ensuring that these proven strategies reach the women who need them most.

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Advancing Opioid Safety: New Evidence on Opioid-Induced Respiratory Depression

Opioids remain an essential component of pain management across surgical, procedural, and medical care. Yet alongside their benefits lies one of the most serious and potentially life-threatening risks: opioid-induced respiratory depression (OIRD). Despite decades of clinical use, OIRD continues to contribute to preventable patient harm across care settings.

A newly published peer-reviewed paper on OIRD, co-authored by a multidisciplinary group of clinicians and researchers — including Michael Wong, JD, Executive Director of the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety (PPAHS) — brings renewed attention to this critical patient safety challenge. The paper synthesizes current evidence on OIRD mechanisms, risk factors, and opportunities for improved prevention and response, reinforcing what many clinicians already recognize: respiratory depression is often predictable, frequently detectable, and too often recognized too late.

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Stop Making Quality Too Hard: Why My New Book is Your Quality Companion

By Amy Campbell, PhD, RN, CPHQ, LSSBB

After more than 17 years in healthcare quality, I have seen it all, projects that soared and projects that stumbled. Some of my biggest “fails” turned out to be my first attempts at learning, and those lessons shaped how I approach improvement today. Too often, we make quality work harder than it needs to be. My passion has always been teaching, whether it is guiding executives through complex systems or mentoring graduate nursing students who are just beginning their quality journey. But I have struggled to find a resource that feels approachable, something you could pick up quickly, enjoy, and return to whenever you need guidance.

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Breaking the Stigma Around Dual Diagnosis

Editor’s Note: Breaking the stigma around dual diagnosis means seeing the full picture. Learn how truth, empathy, and integrated care lead to real recovery. In this thoughtful article, Pam Reiman discusses the situation when mental health problems and substance use collide.

By Pam Reiman, JD, LCSW, CAADC, CSAC (Executive Director at Bridging the Gaps, Inc.)

A person in a shirt with glasses looking stressed and leaning against the wall. The stigma around dual diagnosis shows up in quiet moments. A person with depression who drinks to cope may be told they “just need willpower.” Someone battling addiction might have their panic attacks dismissed as excuses. When the two conditions overlap, one often hides the other. The result is missed signs, unfair judgment, and delayed care.

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PPAHS Launches New Clinical Trial Recruitment Services Page — Connecting Research with Patients Faster

The Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety (PPAHS) is excited to announce the launch of our newly updated Clinical Trial Recruitment Services page — designed to help sponsors, CROs, and investigators recruit qualified trial participants faster, more ethically, and with patient safety at the center of every effort.

Every day of delay in a clinical trial is more than a cost — it’s a missed opportunity for patients to access innovative treatments, diagnostics, and preventive care. Our mission-driven team works to bridge that gap, helping research move forward while protecting and empowering participants.

Why This Matters

As a nonprofit patient safety organization, PPAHS brings a unique advantage to recruitment:

Mission before margin — We prioritize health outcomes over profit.
Established trust — Our deep connections with patient communities, clinicians, and advocacy groups foster engagement.
Expertise across therapeutic areas — From orthopedic recovery to sepsis, respiratory compromise, and rare diseases, we understand the challenges and know how to overcome them.

Our Process

Our approach is collaborative, ethical, and compliant:

Collaborative Planning — We align closely with your team’s trial objectives, timelines, and eligibility criteria.
Ethical & Compliant Outreach — All recruitment is IRB-approved, HIPAA-compliant, and patient-centered.
Retention-Focused Support — We help participants through the entire process, ensuring higher retention and stronger data quality.

Explore the New Page

Our new Clinical Trial Recruitment Services page outlines our full capabilities and process for accelerating recruitment in a way that advances both science and patient well-being.

To visit our clinical trial recruitment page, please click here.

If you’re a sponsor, CRO, or investigator ready to move your trial forward while prioritizing patient safety, we’d love to talk.

From Harm Reduction to Holistic Care: Evolving Approaches to Patient Safety in Addiction Treatment

Editors’ notes: In this article, Pat Crilley (Executive Director, Harmony Ridge Recovery Center) provides insights on evolving approaches to patient safety in addiction treatment. He explores the impact and challenges of holistic care.

By Pat Crilley (Executive Director, Harmony Ridge Recovery Center)

In the ever-changing field of addiction treatment, understanding how approaches to patient safety evolve is key. Traditionally, harm reduction strategies played a significant role in managing addiction. However, a shift towards holistic care has begun to reshape how we address this complex issue. This evolution is not just about new methods or techniques. It’s about building trust between patients and caregivers and acknowledging that every aspect of a person’s well-being is important. As we explore these changes, from harm reduction to holistic care, it’s clear that this journey in evolving approaches to patient safety in addiction treatment is reshaping our understanding and response to addiction.

Harmony Ridge Addiction

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Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety Launches CME Sepsis Courses “Identifying Patients in the Sepsis Gray Zone”

Free Three-Module Series Equips Clinicians to Navigate the Sepsis “Gray Zone”

The Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety (PPAHS) is proud to release an accredited continuing medical education course designed to strengthen clinical judgment in the early identification of sepsis. The series is free of charge, self-paced, and completely online.

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Sepsis is a Patient Safety Crisis: Two Free Events You Must Attend

Sepsis causes 1 out of every 5 deaths. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General urges us to take action against sepsis:

“The world must urgently step up efforts to improve data about sepsis so all countries can detect and treat this terrible condition in time. This means strengthening health information systems and ensuring access to rapid diagnostic tools, and quality care including safe and affordable medicines and vaccines.”

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