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Publication Type: News and Information
Single or Multiple Incident: Multiple
Date: 4/25/2019 12:00:00 AM
This alert discusses the value of implementing a patient safety culture survey to assess and strengthen a culture of safety. The alert supports the use of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ) recently published national results of patient safety culture surveys for community pharmacies, and nursing facilities. Reports for hospitals and medical offices were published in 2018, and a full report for ambulatory surgery centers is coming soon. The AHRQ Surveys on Patient Safety Culture (SOPS) program is one of the best tools for assessing how staff feel about patient safety culture. Survey results are a valuable tool for diagnosing, assessing , and understanding patient safety culture challenges in hospitals, nursing facilities, pharmacies and, ambulatory surgery centers as well as for prioritizing patient safety improvement efforts. The alert advocates an incremental approach to using survey results for improving patient safety. Two main strategies are identified: 1. Understand common culture challenges - Findings from national surveys reveal the most common strengths and areas for improvement by facility type. Results from community pharmacies, hospitals, nursing facilities, and ambulatory surgery centres are provided. 2. Start using the culture survey - AHRQ provides an extensive toolkit for implementing the SOPS survey, according to facility type. The toolkit includes a user guide to help get started, select a survey population, conduct the survey, analyze data, and produce reports. - Once the facility has completed a SOPS survey, AHRQ provides instructions for comparing thre facility’s results to national survey results. Comparing your facility to others may be a helpful tool for understanding your results and identifying your top areas for improvement. - AHRQ also provides a SOPS Action Planning Tool you can use after you have analyzed your survey results. The action planning tool offers step-by-step support for documenting your goals and identifying needed resources, process and outcome measures, and timelines.



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