What are the 2026 National Patient Safety Goals for ambulatory care?

The 2026 National Patient Safety Goals for the Ambulatory Health Care Program are Goal 1 patient identification, Goal 3 medication safety, Goal 7 hand hygiene and Goal 16 health outcomes for all, with the Universal Protocol for invasive procedures in the same chapter. Ambulatory care keeps these goals in 2026, while hospitals moved to National Performance Goals.

The goals, as Joint Commission writes them

The table is taken from the National Patient Safety Goals chapter effective January 2026 for the Ambulatory Health Care Program.¹ Joint Commission tailors its goals for each program, and publishes the chapter for each.² The Office-Based Surgery chapter carries Goals 1, 3 and 7 and the Universal Protocol, without the anticoagulation requirement or Goal 16.³

What each goal asks for in practice

Medication information is the most detailed goal. Obtain the patient's current medicines at the start of the episode, define what information to collect in each setting, compare it with what you order, and give the patient written information on what to take at the end.¹ Goal 16 asks for a named leader, an assessment of health-related social needs for the patients you choose, quality and safety data stratified by sociodemographic characteristics, and an action plan for at least one disparity.¹ The Universal Protocol applies to all surgical and nonsurgical invasive procedures.¹

1. Name your two identifiers. Write them into policy and use them on every record, label and specimen.
2. Map the medication steps. Decide what information you collect in each setting, who compares it, and what the patient takes home.
3. Monitor hand hygiene. Pick CDC or WHO guidance and measure compliance against it.
4. Choose one disparity. Stratify an existing measure, pick one gap, and write an action plan with a goal and an owner.
5. Observe a time-out. Watch a real procedure from verification to time-out, and record what you saw.
6. Report the data. National Patient Safety Goal data is one of the topics in the data management system tracer.

1. Goal or protocol ______
2. How we meet it ______
3. Where the evidence lives ______
4. Last observed or audited on ______
5. Result ______ Owner ______

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Do the goals change in 2026?

For hospitals and critical access hospitals, yes. National Performance Goals replaced the National Patient Safety Goals on 1 January 2026 under Accreditation 360.⁴ For ambulatory care and office-based surgery, the National Patient Safety Goals chapter effective January 2026 still applies.¹ The Accreditation 360 guide explains the difference, and the Joint Commission hub maps each goal to how wai keeps its evidence.

Questions

Do the National Patient Safety Goals still apply to ambulatory care in 2026?

Yes. The National Patient Safety Goals chapter effective January 2026 applies to the Ambulatory Health Care and Office-Based Surgery programs. National Performance Goals replaced them only for hospitals and critical access hospitals.

Is the Universal Protocol part of the National Patient Safety Goals?

It sits in the same chapter for ambulatory care, with preprocedure verification, site marking and the time-out.

What does Goal 16 require?

A leader for improving outcomes for all patients, an assessment of health-related social needs, stratified quality data and an action plan for at least one disparity.

Sources

1. 1Joint Commission, 2026National Patient Safety Goals, effective January 2026, Ambulatory Health Care ProgramRead source
2. 2Joint Commission, 2026National Patient Safety GoalsRead source
3. 3Joint Commission, 2026National Patient Safety Goals, effective January 2026, Office-Based Surgery ProgramRead source
4. 4Joint Commission, 2026Accreditation 360, Frequently Asked QuestionsRead source

Written by the wai team from Joint Commission guidance, checked on 15 October 2026. This is guidance, not legal advice. Joint Commission does not endorse wai or any software.