The Certification Board for Professionals in Patient Safety (CBPPS) has announced the official launch date for the highly-anticipated Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS) exam. This credentialing process is designed to establish patient safety competency standards and elevate the professional stature of healthcare professionals who meet knowledge requirements in safety science, human factors engineering, and the practice of safe care.

In recognition of the advancement of patient safety as an acknowledged and critical discipline across the care continuum,  testing for the CPPS credential will be made available as Patient Safety Awareness Week kicks off globally on March 5, 2012.

The seminal AHRQ Making Health Care Safer report, issued in 2001, used evidence-based medicine principles to identify key patient safety practices (PSPs). Although its recommendations were somewhat controversial, the report galvanized patient safety efforts at hospitals nationwide and provided a stimulus for further rigorous research on PSPs.