How can a healthcare provider and a PSO exchange information to promote patient safety and quality, while complying with the provisions of the Patient Safety Act and the Patient Safety Rule?

This diagram, Working with a PSO: One Approach, AHRQ Publication No. 13-PS-018, illustrates how information can flow between a provider and its PSO-primarily, between the provider's patient safety evaluation system (PSES) and the PSES of the PSO. A provider PSES manages the collection of information for reporting to a PSO. The diagram shows the flow of protected information, to be handled as PSWP. PSWP analyzed by the PSO forms the basis of protected recommendations from the PSO to the provider. PSWP can undergo nonidentification for combination with data from other PSOs, to become publicly accessible.