OBJECTIVES: Ineffective communication among healthcare professionals is one of the leading causes of medical errors and patient harm. Several studies have shown that communication failures were implicated at the root of over 70% of sentinel events. Also, in the acute care setting, communication failures lead to increases in patient harm, length of stay, and resource use. The objective of this study is to analyze how communication problems can directly affect patient safety (PS) in Brazilian hospitals, as well as the government initiatives to deal with this issue. METHODS: We assessed PS data in organs such as the Ministry of Health (MOH), National Agency of Sanitary Surveillance (ANVISA) and National Health Confederation (CNS), as well as Brazilian regulations on patient safety. Additionally, a literature review was performed in Medline and SciELO databases using the mesh terms “patient safety” and “communication”, among others. RESULTS: ANVISA and MOH have instituted a series of activities focused on PS and quality in health services. In 2013, they launched the National Program for Patient Safety, which establishes communication as one of the essential factors for PS. However, failures still occur frequently in Brazilian hospitals. In Brazil, the incidence of adverse events in hospital setting is 7.6%, and 66.7% of them are preventable. Studies indicate that communication problems occur in up to 70% of reported cases of adverse events in hospitals. Furthermore, communication failures are responsible for 32% of errors in ICU. Extended data on the literature review will appear on the poster.  CONCLUSIONS: Communication breakdown is a key factor contributing to most cases of patient harm, and this harm continues to occur at very high levels. Improving communication for safety in healthcare is an imperative, especially in Brazil, where adverse events in hospitals have high rates and PS still has a long way to go to become really effective.