[After 15 years of ÄZQ: 10 years of safety for patients].

The German Agency for Quality in Medicine (ÄZQ) has been actively addressing the topic patient safety for ten years. ÄZQ's work in the field has focused on establishing a patient safety expert circle, publishing various articles on the subject, developing a patient safety continuing education curriculum, setting up a patient safety internet forum, and participating in the WHO initiative "Action on Patient Safety: High 5s". Furthermore, "CIRSmedical.de", a reporting and learning system for German medical professionals supported and maintained by ÄZQ, developed into the nationwide "CIRSmedical.de Network". In the following article these activities and how they relate to other national and international patient safety programs are described.