Team Up for Patient Safety

How CRICO helps healthcare organizations reduce their risk all year long

Patient Safety Awareness Week (March 8–14, 2026) is a national movement to spotlight the daily work that keeps patients safe, and to recommit to the systems, behaviors, and partnerships that prevent harm. This year’s theme, “Team Up for Patient Safety,” emphasizes what many clinicians and safety leaders live every day: safer care built through shared accountability by patients, families, and the entire care team.

At CRICO, our focus on patient safety is not limited to a one-week campaign. With our mission to protect providers and promote safety, we support our subscriber organizations year-round by transforming real clinical risk data into practical, evidence-based tools and guidance that help teams identify hidden clinical vulnerabilities and implement solutions to mitigate risk.

Solutions informed by decades of experience and a national data collaborative

CRICO’s approach to risk management is grounded in evidence and informed by decades of clinical analysis of medical professional liability (MPL) cases. Drawing on 50 years of experience and insights from the Candello national data collaborative, we are positioned to identify and convert mistakes into opportunities, helping organizations reduce the likelihood of recurrence and strengthen reliability.

CRICO’s Risk Prevention & Education resources span digital content, multimedia offerings, educational opportunities, and services designed to help prevent risk and promote patient safety. Tapping into our extended community of clinical experts from across the Harvard-affiliated healthcare organizations, we produce clinical case studies, podcasts, webinars, and defendant support resources designed to mitigate medical malpractice risks.

In other words, we don’t just cite vulnerabilities; we share solutions that help teams implement safer care pathways.

Illuminating risk and delivering patient safety solutions

Our analysis draws on clinically coded insights that classify malpractice and patient safety events, allowing us to illuminate what’s driving harm and loss. Those insights are connected to risk reduction strategies such as checklists, simulation training, and closed-loop communication tools.

Analytic reports provide healthcare leaders with tangible evidence to support funding for patient safety initiatives by identifying patterns of medical error that can be systematically redesigned.

Helping teams translate data into safer practice

• Claims-informed insights reveal breakdowns in care delivery
• Practical resources close the gap between insight and implementation
• Education opportunities help physicians meet CME and risk management requirements
• Comparative data identifies persistent risk drivers like communication and documentation

During Patient Safety Awareness Week, these focus areas underscore that safety encompasses more than clinical decision-making. It also involves effective team communication, coordination, and ensuring clarity for both patients and colleagues.

Patient safety and risk mitigation rely equally on teamwork

To demonstrate CRICO’s support for Patient Safety Awareness Week, we launched our “Wear Purple for Patient Safety” campaign more than 10 years ago to help energize and visibly amplify the movement. By encouraging clinicians, staff, and partners across our subscriber community to wear purple as a simple, shared signal of commitment to safer care, we offer a clear reminder that patient safety is a team sport, and we’re all on the same team.

Meaningful harm reduction comes from teams that share standards, make responsibilities explicit, escalate concerns early, and design workflows that anticipate human limits, so CRICO encourages all of you to “Team Up for Patient Safety” and wear something purple to show you care.