The Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS) credential is awarded by the Certification Board for Professionals in Patient Safety (CBPPS) through the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). It certifies that a health care professional — clinical or non-clinical — has demonstrated proficiency in the core standards of patient safety science and human factors engineering, and can apply that knowledge to plan and implement patient safety initiatives. The PassProfessor Certified Professional in Patient Safety program prepares candidates for that examination.
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What this credential certifies
The CPPS is a cross-disciplinary credential. Its holders include patient safety professionals, clinicians, non-clinical health care workers, executives, risk and quality professionals, and others whose work carries patient safety as an integral component. Candidates may work in hospitals, health systems, the home, ambulatory and other outpatient settings, academia, the community, and organisations that provide services to the health care industry, inside and outside the United States. What unites them is not a job title but a discipline: the science of why harm happens in health care systems and what reliably prevents it.
The credential is administered by the Certification Board for Professionals in Patient Safety (CBPPS), the certifying board behind the program at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and the examination is developed, administered, scored and analysed with PSI Services as testing agency. The CPPS program is fully accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA).
One disambiguation belongs at the front of any CPPS page, because the initials collide. The CPPS on this page is the Certified Professional in Patient Safety. It is not the BCPPS credential — the Board Certified Pediatric Pharmacy Specialist credential awarded in pharmacy practice — and it is not a pharmacy credential of any kind. The two credentials share four letters and nothing else: different certifying bodies, different professions, different examinations. A pharmacist whose goal is patient safety certification sits the CPPS described here; a pharmacist whose goal is pediatric pharmacotherapy certification sits a different board’s examination, and preparation for one does not prepare for the other.
The examination at a glance
| Item | Verified position |
|---|---|
| Program | Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS) |
| Certifying body | Certification Board for Professionals in Patient Safety (CBPPS), through the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI); examination services by PSI Services |
| Examination | 120 multiple-choice questions: 100 scored questions and 20 pretest questions, in 2.5 hours, by computer at PSI test centers or by live remote online proctoring |
| Question types | Recall, application and analysis; only a small percentage of questions are recall — the rest divide between application and analysis |
| Passing standard | Criterion-referenced: the passing score is set by an Angoff process and forms are equated; CBPPS publishes no numeric pass mark in its candidate-facing handbook, so none is printed here |
| Eligibility | Patient safety as an integral component of current or future professional responsibilities, plus either a baccalaureate degree or higher with three years of experience in a health care setting or with a provider of services to the health care industry, or an associate degree or equivalent with five years of such experience (clinical rotations and residency time count) |
| Examination fee (body’s fee) | $549 for US/domestic candidates; international candidates add $100 |
| Credential term | Three years |
| Recertification | 45 continuing education hours following the CPPS content outline across the cycle, or re-examination within one year before expiration |
| Administrator note | PassProfessor is independent and is not affiliated with IHI or CBPPS |
What the examination covers
The examination is built from a comprehensive job analysis of patient safety practice, refreshed on a roughly five-year cycle — the most recent job analysis was completed in 2023 — and its content outline carries four domains. The numbers below are the scored-item counts the board publishes for each domain, out of the 100 scored questions.
Culture — 20 scored questions. This domain examines the culture of safety itself: organisational culture in its examined forms — just culture, non-hierarchical culture, psychological safety — organisational infrastructure and requirements, safety climate and the healthy work environment, communication and collaboration, the learning culture, and event response. A second strand covers leadership and outreach at organisational, community and group, and individual and team levels: the candidate is examined as someone who leads safety work, not only as someone who performs it.
Systems Thinking, Human Factors Engineering, and Design — 20 scored questions. Systems thinking comes first: systems thinking models such as SEIPS, frameworks such as Safety I and Safety II and high reliability, system complexity, and systems approaches and principles. Human factors engineering follows: cognitive bias, system constraints and barriers, human factors and ergonomics, and human capacity. Design closes the domain: usability and functionality, workflow, resources including supplies and cost-benefit thinking, and technology, equipment and environment. This is the domain that teaches the examination’s central habit — harm is a property of systems, and the fix is designed, not exhorted.
Safety Risks and Responses — 35 scored questions. The largest domain, at more than a third of the scored examination. Risk assessment covers escalations, reporting systems and communication methodologies, severity of incident, process and data analysis, transitions of care, environmental hazards, settings and care locations, work environment and psychological safety, and sociodemographic and population-specific stratification and assessment. Risk and harm recognition covers diagnosis, the medication management and use process, interventions, surgery, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, patient deterioration, health care acquired conditions and infections, inequities, physical and non-physical violence and incivility, over- and under-treatment and omissions, and emergency preparedness. Barriers to safety — human and financial resources, supplies and shortages, technological factors such as interoperability, inequities in care, care fragmentation and transitions, and extra-organisational challenges — are examined as their own strand, before the domain closes with patient and workplace safety responses: protocols and checklists, safety systems such as rapid response and the electronic health record, risk management, peer and team support such as safety huddles and debriefings, and communication and resolution programs.
Performance Measurement, Analysis, Improvement and Monitoring — 25 scored questions. Measurement covers process mapping, process, outcome and balance measurement design, data collection and analysis, and data visualisation. Review and analysis covers analysis tools, the analysis and review process for risks, events and hazards, proactive and reactive approaches to review, and barriers to review and analysis. Improvement and sustainability covers improvement models, design, selection and implementation, communication and education, evaluation of event and process response, the hierarchy of hazard reduction, change management, and monitoring change. A candidate who cannot read a run chart, choose between a process and an outcome measure, or rank an intervention by the strength of the hierarchy of hazard reduction will feel this quarter of the paper.
What makes this examination distinct
Most clinical certifications examine one profession’s knowledge of one body system or one patient population. The CPPS examines a method. Its candidate pool deliberately mixes professions — a nurse, a pharmacist, a respiratory therapist, a quality analyst and a hospital executive can sit the same form — because patient safety work itself is done by mixed teams, and the examination’s unit of analysis is the system those teams share. That is why the outline gives a full fifth of the paper to culture and leadership, why human factors engineering sits beside risk assessment, and why the handbook warns that most questions are job-related and experience-based, testing the application and analysis of information rather than the recall of facts. A candidate preparing by memorising definitions is preparing for the smallest slice of this examination.
The cross-disciplinary design also creates the examination’s characteristic trap: the clinically correct answer is not always the credited answer. An item describing a medication error typically rewards the response that fixes the system — the forcing function, the redesigned workflow, the reporting and learning loop — over the response that retrains, reminds or disciplines the individual. Candidates with deep clinical knowledge and no systems formation routinely choose the bedside answer; the examination is built to catch exactly that instinct.
The route, in order
The route runs: confirm eligibility — patient safety as an integral part of your current or intended role, and one of the two education-and-experience combinations — apply and register through the PSI portal for the CBPPS program, paying the examination fee — schedule at a PSI test center or by live remote online proctoring — sit the 120-question, 2.5-hour examination — and receive the result, with results provided on screen at a test center and an official score report sent after the session. CBPPS randomly audits a limited number of applications each year, so the education and experience attested at application must be documentable. A candidate who does not pass may retake after a 30-day wait, up to three times in a one-year period; a third failure starts a one-year wait before a further attempt.
Staying certified: the three-year cycle
CPPS certification runs on a three-year recertification cycle, and there is no inactive, retired or waiver path — the board’s position is that a field changing this quickly does not support one. Recertification follows one of two paths. Path I is continuing education: 45 CE hours across the cycle, all of it following the CPPS content outline, documented and submitted with the recertification application and fee. Path II is re-examination: sitting for and passing the CPPS examination within one year before the expiration date. The application is due by the end of the month in which the credential was originally granted, with a short grace period beyond it; a credential that lapses past that window is revoked, and the route back is the examination itself.
What the PassProfessor program will cover
The four domains, weighted as the board weights them. The program is built on the published content outline: safety risks and responses given the largest share, performance measurement next, and culture and systems thinking given their full fifth each — not compressed into an introductory module, which is where lighter preparation leaves them.
The systems answer, practised until it is the instinct. Because the examination rewards system-level responses over individual-level ones, the program drills the choice explicitly: event scenarios worked through reporting, analysis, hierarchy-of-hazard-reduction ranking and monitoring, until selecting the designed fix over the exhortation becomes reflexive.
Measurement literacy as a skill, not a glossary. Process, outcome and balance measures, data collection and visualisation, analysis tools, and improvement models are taught as working tools — the candidate practises choosing and reading them inside safety scenarios drawn from the outline’s own task list.
Independence, stated plainly. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider, not affiliated with IHI or CBPPS, and CBPPS does not endorse preparation resources. Completing this program confers no credential; CBPPS alone certifies, and candidates register for the examination through PSI.
Tell me when enrollment opens. The Certified Professional in Patient Safety program is in the works and enrollment is not yet open. Leave an email address and PassProfessor will write to you when the program is ready — and only about this program. No date is promised, because the program will open when it meets the standard described above, not before.
Frequently asked questions
Who awards the CPPS credential?
The Certification Board for Professionals in Patient Safety (CBPPS), through the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). PSI Services develops, administers, scores and analyses the examination with the board.
Is the CPPS the same as the BCPPS?
No. The CPPS is the Certified Professional in Patient Safety. The BCPPS is a pediatric pharmacy specialty credential awarded by a pharmacy board. Different bodies, different professions, different examinations — this page and this program concern patient safety only.
How many questions are on the CPPS examination, and how long does it take?
120 multiple-choice questions — 100 scored and 20 pretest — in 2.5 hours, by computer at a PSI test center or by live remote online proctoring.
What score passes the CPPS examination?
CBPPS sets the passing score by a criterion-referenced Angoff process and equates forms for difficulty; its candidate handbook publishes no numeric pass mark, so this page prints none. Your result is a pass/fail determination against the standard of a minimally qualified patient safety professional, with content-area feedback provided for study purposes.
Who is eligible to sit the CPPS examination?
Candidates whose current or future professional responsibilities include patient safety as an integral component, and who hold either a baccalaureate degree or higher plus three years of experience in a health care setting or with a provider of services to the health care industry, or an associate degree or equivalent plus five years of such experience. Clinical rotations and residency time count toward the experience.
Do I need a clinical license to earn the CPPS?
No clinical license is an eligibility requirement in the board’s published criteria. The credential is deliberately cross-disciplinary: clinicians, executives, quality and risk professionals and other health care professionals with the requisite education and experience may sit.
What does the examination cost?
The board’s examination fee is $549 for US/domestic candidates, with an additional $100 for international candidates. That is the certifying body’s fee, payable at registration through PSI — it is not a PassProfessor charge.
What are the four domains, and which is largest?
Culture (20 scored questions), Systems Thinking, Human Factors Engineering, and Design (20), Safety Risks and Responses (35), and Performance Measurement, Analysis, Improvement and Monitoring (25). Safety Risks and Responses is the largest at just over a third of the scored paper.
How long does CPPS certification last?
Three years. Recertification is by 45 continuing education hours that follow the content outline, or by re-examination within one year before expiration. There is no inactive status.
What happens if I do not pass?
You may retake after a 30-day wait, up to three times in a one-year period, reapplying and paying the fee for each attempt. A third failure in the period starts a one-year wait.
Is PassProfessor affiliated with IHI or CBPPS?
No. PassProfessor is an independent preparation provider. IHI and CBPPS alone certify, and CBPPS does not endorse preparation resources.
When does enrollment open?
The program is in the works and enrollment is not yet open. Leave an email address on this page and PassProfessor will write to you when the program is ready — and only about this program. The companion Certified Professional in Patient Safety exam guide on this site sets out the credential, the outline and the route in full.