Nonprofit Launches First Patient Safety Organization Dedicated Exclusively to Correctional Healthcare

Sentinel creates a new avenue for jails, prisons, and juvenile detention centers to identify patient-safety trends and learn from data across facilities.

FRANKLIN, TN, UNITED STATES, August 19, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Sentinel Patient Safety Organization (PSO) has become the first nonprofit correctional-specific Patient Safety Organization in the United States to be listed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), creating a new avenue for correctional healthcare organizations to identify patient-safety trends and learn from data across facilities.

This milestone brings the federal patient-safety framework established by the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (PSQIA) to an area of healthcare with distinct clinical and operational challenges. Only PSOs listed by AHRQ can offer the federal confidentiality and privilege protections established under PSQIA for eligible patient-safety information.

“One of the longstanding gaps in correctional healthcare has been the ability to learn from data across facilities,” said Elizabeth Harris, Executive Director of Sentinel. “By bringing leaders together, we can do things now that have not been done before.”

Although PSOs have been part of the national healthcare quality framework for more than 20 years, correctional healthcare involves operational considerations and data points that differ from those in traditional healthcare settings. Patient care can be influenced by intake and release, custody operations, and transitions between correctional and community care. These factors can significantly affect how patient-safety events are evaluated.

“Corrections is the sole focus of our work and the foundation of what we do,” said Harris. “Our team brings expertise in correctional health, patient safety, law, and public health.”

The organization enters the field as correctional healthcare continues to become increasingly specialized. As participation grows, shared data and analysis can help reveal recurring trends and inform benchmarking, training, risk reduction, and quality-improvement efforts.

Correctional facilities, healthcare organizations, and leaders interested in Sentinel PSO can learn more at sentinelpso.com.

About Sentinel PSO
Sentinel PSO is an innovator in patient safety and quality improvement in correctional healthcare. The organization brings together more than 40 years of combined experience, with industry experts specializing in correctional health, patient safety, law, and public health. Sentinel PSO is the only correctional-specific Patient Safety Organization (PSO) listed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which currently lists 127 PSOs nationwide.

Elizabeth Harris
Sentinel Patient Safety Organization
+1 410-303-3930
liz.harris@sentinelpso.com

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