Leading the Way on Quality and Patient Safety in Texas Hospitals

Across Texas, hospitals and health systems are leaning into a shared commitment: delivering safer, higher-quality care for every patient, in every community. In 2025, the Texas Hospital Association’s Quality & Patient Safety (QPS) team deepened that commitment through renewed collaboration, program evaluation and strategic growth.

A division of the Texas Hospital Association Foundation, QPS serves as a statewide connector, convening hospitals, leaders and frontline teams to share best practices and practical solutions. By fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing, our team strives to amplify each program’s strengths – ensuring our communication is seamless, our efforts are unified, and our collective impact on quality and patient outcomes is greater.

Reflecting on 2025, I am inspired by the meaningful progress that our team has accomplished together. Through engagement surveys, advisory committee meetings, and open dialogue, we identified our strengths, acknowledged our challenges and mapped out clear priorities for our future. As we look ahead to 2026, I am excited by the opportunities for partnership and innovation. I am confident that, together, we will continue to advance our commitment to excellence for those we serve.

Laura Cornelson, MSN, RN, Vice President of Clinical Initiatives

In 2025, under the leadership of Sheila Dolbow, MSN, RN, the Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Program (MBQIP) continued to expand its support for Texas’ critical access hospitals (CAHs). In partnership with the Texas State Office of Rural Health, THA secured the quality component of the MBQIP contract, bringing more than $244,000 in grant-funded education and technical assistance over the next three years. Ninety-six percent of Texas CAHs engaged with MBQIP offerings, now including intensive quality bootcamps, CNO workshops, frontline documentation sessions, and targeted education series. For rural leaders like Tiana Wells, MSN, RN, chief nursing officer and quality director at Rankin County Hospital District, the impact is tangible. She credits the CAHQI program with giving her the knowledge, structure, and confidence to lead data-driven, sustainable improvements. Likewise, Cassandra Dubose, MSN, RN, CNO at Frio Regional Hospital, shared that THA’s quality bootcamp “empowers leaders to lead more through evidence-based practices and helps staff feel more organized, knowledgeable and confident to speak up.”

Provider peer review is a cornerstone of safe, high-quality care, offering an objective assessment of clinical practice, supporting professional development, and strengthening trust in hospital quality programs. QPS also advanced physician and provider quality through the Peer Review Network (PRN), a non-profit program offering external peer review services to Texas hospitals at a reduced cost. In 2025, PRN launched a targeted recruitment campaign to expand its specialty reviewer pool and streamlined onboarding for members and reviewers. Hospitals reported high satisfaction, with 98% of reviews completed on or ahead of schedule and 100% of respondents willing to recommend the program.

Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs) provide a confidential, legally protected space for hospitals to report, analyze and learn from safety events, turning data into system-level improvements. With new CMS patient safety structural measures now in place, active engagement with a PSO has never been more critical to demonstrating a robust safety infrastructure and culture of learning.

The THA PSO, led by Nina Costilla, MSN, RN, and supported by data analyst Judi Trout, has been listed with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality since 2012 and continued to expand its learning network to 81 affiliated providers and more than 77,000 safety event records for protected analysis. Members receive access to Safe Tables, learning forums, legal updates, training and the annual PSO Spring Safety Summit. In 2025, 100% of surveyed members reported that the PSO was effective in supporting their quality and safety goals, and all said they would recommend it to other hospitals.

Looking ahead to 2026, QPS is building on last year’s forward momentum. With renewed national attention on patient safety, the team is enhancing data reporting and analytics, developing clinical collaboratives, and expanding advisory input. Through these efforts, QPS will continue to elevate shared learning, strengthen safety culture and support Texas hospitals in delivering safer, higher-quality care for all.

Leading the Way on Quality and Patient Safety in Texas Hospitals

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