MedStar Institute for Quality and Safety

What MedStar Institute for Quality and Safety does

MedStar Institute for Quality and Safety (MIQS) is a non-profit research and education institute established by MedStar Health, the largest healthcare provider in the Maryland and Washington, D.C. region. It provides a global infrastructure for healthcare leaders, frontline caregivers, patients, and family members to jointly develop, educate, assess, and advocate for patient safety and clinical quality initiatives. The Institute operates four educational offerings—an Executive Masters in Clinical Quality, Safety, and Leadership; Graduate Certificates in Patient Safety and Leadership; the Academy for Emerging Leaders in Patient Safety; and a Quality and Safety Physician Leadership Fellowship—alongside service programs including the registered PFACQS® patient and family engagement program, the MedStar Center for Diagnostic Systems Safety, and free consulting services via the International Training Center for Bloodless Medicine.

Its core methodology is evidence-based systems engineering applied to healthcare quality, value, patient safety, patient experience, and outcomes improvement, rather than a software or AI platform. The Institute maintains a research portfolio funded by federal and private institutions, with co-production of innovations alongside patients and families as a stated hallmark, and distributes open-source quality metrics, improvement tools, and CANDOR (Communication and Optimal Resolution) resources to the broader healthcare community.

The business model combines professional services revenue from educational program tuition, grant-funded research (federal and private), and consulting that is largely free for bloodless medicine program establishment. Go-to-market is sales-led through direct engagement with healthcare organizations, hospitals, ambulatory locations, and care sites globally, with MedStar Health serving as the parent anchor, brand amplifier, and operating laboratory. The Institute is headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, employs 11-50 people, and holds the PFACQS® registered trademark as its principal branded intangible asset.

Name

MedStar Institute for Quality and Safety

Legal name

MedStar Health

Website

https://medstariqs.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

MedStar Institute for Quality and Safety is a non-profit research and education division of MedStar Health that delivers patient safety and clinical quality education, consulting, and research to healthcare organizations and professionals globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Columbia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Educational Programs: Revenue from executive education programs including Executive Masters in Clinical Quality, Safety, and Leadership, Graduate Certificates in Patient Safety and Leadership, and the Academy for Emerging Leaders in Patient Safety.
2. Research Grants and Funding: Federal and private institution funding supporting a robust portfolio of research projects. The Institute partners with patients, family members, and caregivers in co-producing health innovations.
3. Consulting Services: Free consulting services for administrators and physician leaders on bloodless medicine programs. Additional consulting services provided for diagnostic safety and quality improvement initiatives.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

MedStar Institute for Quality and Safety (MIQS) is a healthcare research, education, and consulting institute that provides graduate-level educational programs, fellowships, executive training, and consulting services focused on patient safety, clinical quality, diagnostic safety, patient and family engagement, and bloodless medicine. The institute offers open-source quality improvement tools and resources and partners with healthcare organizations globally to reduce preventable harm and improve healthcare delivery outcomes.

Product overview

The MedStar Institute for Quality and Safety is a healthcare institute established by MedStar Health that provides a global infrastructure for education, training, research, and advocacy in patient safety and clinical quality. The institute operates as a platform of interconnected programs including four educational offerings (Executive Masters degree, Graduate Certificates, Academy for Emerging Leaders, and Physician Leadership Fellowship), service programs (Patient and Family Engagement PFACQS®, Diagnostic Systems Safety Center, and Bloodless Medicine consulting), and open-source quality tools. These components work together to advance the institute's mission of reducing preventable harm through transformational safety science education, research, and practical implementation support.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Patient and Family Engagement (PFACQS®): Patient and family advisory councils mechanism for embedding regular input and feedback into improvement work from communities served
• MedStar Center for Diagnostic Systems Safety
• International Training Center for Bloodless Medicine
• Academy for Emerging Leaders in Patient Safety
• Executive Masters in Clinical Quality, Safety, and Leadership
• Quality and Safety Physician Leadership Fellowship

Products and services

• Executive Masters in Clinical Quality, Safety, and Leadership
• Graduate Certificates in Patient Safety and Leadership
• Academy for Emerging Leaders in Patient Safety
• Quality and Safety Physician Leadership Fellowship
• Patient and Family Engagement (PFACQS®)
• MedStar Center for Diagnostic Systems Safety
• International Training Center for Bloodless Medicine and Surgery Program
• Quality and Safety Tools and Resources

Quantifiable outcome

• Effective and sustainable improvements in the delivery of healthcare
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Federal InstitutionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFederal institution funding supports a robust portfolio of research projects at the Institute. The Institute partners with these institutions to advance patient safety science and quality improvement research.
• Private InstitutionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrivate institution funding supports the Institute's research programs. Research projects are supported by federal and private institutions working collaboratively to advance healthcare quality and safety.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• The Joint Commission: The Joint Commission is the dominant US healthcare accreditation body, with significant overlap into patient safety standards, education, and quality improvement resources. It is a broader incumbent that competes for the same institutional customers seeking safety expertise.
• National Quality Forum: NQF is a non-profit membership organization that develops healthcare quality measures and convenes stakeholders on patient safety. It is a broader policy/standards peer that influences the same buyers MIQS serves.
• CRICO Strategies: CRICO Strategies is the patient safety division of the Harvard medical professional liability insurers, offering analytics, education, and consulting on diagnostic and communication errors — a direct incumbent competitor to MIQS's diagnostic safety and CANDOR programs.

Direct peers

• Patient Safety Movement Foundation: A non-profit dedicated to eliminating preventable patient harm through advocacy, partnerships, and education. It competes with MIQS for global mindshare in the patient safety movement and offers adjacent educational programming.
• Institute for Healthcare Improvement: IHI is a leading non-profit focused on healthcare quality improvement and patient safety education, training, and research. Like MIQS, it offers fellowships, certifications, and consulting aimed at reducing preventable harm, making it the closest direct peer.
• ECRI Institute: ECRI is an independent non-profit that conducts healthcare research, publishes patient safety guidance, and offers quality and risk management consulting. Its mission and service mix closely overlap with MIQS's patient safety and quality improvement work.
• Leapfrog Group: Leapfrog is a non-profit watchdog driving hospital quality and safety transparency through public reporting and employer-led advocacy. It overlaps with MIQS's mission of reducing preventable harm and engaging leadership on safety culture.
• Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality (Johns Hopkins Medicine): Johns Hopkins' Armstrong Institute applies systems-engineering and quality science to patient safety — the same evidence-based methodology that MIQS uses. It is a direct academic peer with a similar mix of research, training, and clinical quality consulting.
• Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine: SIDM is a non-profit dedicated to reducing diagnostic error — the same niche occupied by MIQS's Center for Diagnostic Systems Safety. It represents a focused, mission-aligned peer competing for the same grants, partnerships, and consulting engagements.

Regional players

• Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety: A Massachusetts-based state-affiliated non-profit focused on patient safety research, education, and policy. It is a regional peer with a similar research-and-advocacy model, though operating in a more limited geography.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MedStarIQS
• YouTubeyoutube.com/MedStarHealth
• Facebookfacebook.com/MedStarHealth
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/medstar-health
• Instagraminstagram.com/accounts/login/?next=/MedStarHealth

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about MedStar Institute for Quality and Safety