The Department of Health & Human Services' (HHS) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is distributing demonstration and planning grants totaling $25 million to support efforts by states and health systems to implement and evaluate patient safety approaches and medical liability reforms.

With $23 million allocated to grants and $2 million allocated to a final evaluation contract, the HHS Patient Safety and Medical Liability initiative supports the following:

• Grants to jump-start and evaluate efforts: Three-year grants of up to $3 million to states and health systems for implementation and evaluation of patient safety and medical liability demonstrations.
• Planning grants: One-year grants of up to $300,000 to states and health systems in order to plan to implement and evaluate patient safety and medical liability demonstrations.

Grants support the creation of a judge-directed negotiation program, the development of "safe harbors" for state-endorsed evidence-based care guidelines and early disclosure and offers of prompt compensation, HHS stated.

The funded projects are:
Demonstration Grants:

• Timothy McDonald, MD, JD, University of Illinois at Chicago, $2,998,083.
• Stanley Davis, MD, Fairview Health Services in Minneapolis, $2,982,690.
• Eric Thomas, MD, University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, $1,796,575.
• Ann Hendrich, MS, RN, Ascension Health System in St. Louis, $2,990,612.
• Thomas Gallagher, MD, University of Washington in Seattle, $2,972,209.
• Judy Kluger, JD, New York State Unified Court System in New York, $2,999,787.
• Alice Bonner, MS, Massachusetts State Department of Public Health in Boston,  $2,912,566.

Planning Grants:

• Lynn Marie Crider, JD, Office for Oregon Health Policy and Research in Portland, $299,458.
• Richard David, MD, John Hopkins University in Baltimore, $293,225.
• Dianne Garcia, JD, Multicare Health System in Tacoma, Wash., $291,810.
• Wendell Hoffman, MD, Sanford Research in Sioux Falls, S.D., $294,137.
• Elizabeth Guenther, MD, University of Utah in Salt Lake City, $299,999.
• Karen Domino, MD, University of Washington in Seattle, $295,837.
• David Baker, PhD, Carilion Medical Center in Roanoke, Va., $280,924.
• Kenneth Sands, MD, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, $273,782.
• Nicoletta Tessler, MA, Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, $299,576.
• Cynthia Shellhaas, MD, Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, $187,437.
• John Buckley, MD, Wishard Health Services in Indianapolis, $154,124.
• Cindy Lou Corbett, PhD, Washington State University in Pullman, Wash., $298,810.
• Steven Crane, MD, NC State/Department HHS in Raleigh, N.C., $297,710.