Survey User's Guide

Medical Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture

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The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has sponsored the development of this survey on patient safety culture, as part of its goal is to support a culture of safety and quality improvement in the Nation's health care system. This survey tool can be used to assess the safety culture of a medical office as a whole, or for specific units within medical offices, as well as to track changes in patient safety over time and evaluate the impact of patient safety interventions.

This guide was prepared by Westat, Rockville, MD, under Contract No. 233-02-0087 (Task Order No. HHSP233000018T).

Select to download the print version of this document (PDF File, 1.6 MB) PDF Help.

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By Joann Sorra, Ph.D., Martha Franklin, M.A., Suzanne Streagle, M.A., Principal Investigators

Contents

Part One: Survey User's Guide

Chapter 1. Introduction
   Development of the Medical Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture
   Defining a Medical Office
   Identifying Who Should Complete the Survey
   Safety Culture Dimensions Measured in the Survey
   Modifying or Customizing the Survey
   Contents of This Survey User's Guide
Chapter 2. Getting Started
   Determine Available Resources, Project Scope, and Schedule
   Plan Your Project
   Decide Whether To Use an Outside Vendor
   Form a Project Team
Chapter 3. Determining Your Data Collection Methods
   Decide How Surveys Will Be Distributed and Returned
   Establish a Point of Contact
Chapter 4. Establishing Data Collection Procedures
   Publicize and Promote the Survey
   Follow Survey Administration Steps
   Decide Whether To Use Survey Identifiers
   Develop and Assemble Survey Materials
   Track Responses and Calculate Preliminary Response Rates
   Close Out Data Collection
Chapter 5. Conducting a Web-Based Survey
   Consider the Pros and Cons of Web-Based Surveys
   Design and Pretest the Web-Based Survey
   Develop a Web-Based Data Collection Plan
Chapter 6. Preparing and Analyzing Data and Producing Reports
   Identify Incomplete Surveys
   Calculate Final Response Rate
   Edit, Code, and Enter the Data
   Check and Electronically Clean the Data
   Analyze the Data and Produce Reports of the Results
   Submit Your Data to the Medical Office Comparative Database
   Technical Assistance
References

Part Two: Survey Materials

Survey Form (PDF File, 183 KB [PDF Help]; Word® File, 235 KB [Word® Viewer])
Safety Culture Items and Dimensions
Sample Page from PowerPoint® Survey Feedback Report Template

Appendixes

Appendix A. Sample Data Collection Protocol for the Medical Office Point of Contact: Paper Survey
Appendix B. Medical Office Background Characteristics

AHRQ Publication No. 08(09)-0059
Current as of December 2008

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Internet Citation:

Sorra J, Franklin M, Streagle S. Survey User's Guide: Medical Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture. AHRQ Publication No. 08(09)-0059, December 2008. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/mosurvey08/

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