 AEZQ was co-founder of the Guidelines International Network in 2002 - under the leadership of Günter Ollenschläger, collaborating with other national healthcare quality agencies like the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council.In the field of patient safety AEZQ was one of the first German organisations calling for effective patient safety programs.The agency was co-founder of the German Coalition for Patient Safety.