Medical Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture
Many medical offices using the AHRQ Medical Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture have expressed interest in comparing their results to other medical offices. In response, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has established the Medical Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture Comparative Database. This database is a central repository for survey data from medical offices that have administered the AHRQ patient safety culture survey instrument.
Contents
Purpose of the Database
Benefits of Participation and Database Products
Definition of a Medical Office
Participation Requirements
Timeline and Activities
Registration and Data Submission
Data Processing and Comparative Database Report Produced
Contact Information
Purpose of the Database
- To gather data from the AHRQ Medical Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture into a central repository for comparative purposes.
- To produce comparative results to help medical offices identify strengths and opportunities for improvement in their patient safety culture.
- In future years, to track changes in patient safety culture over time.
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Benefits of Participation and Database Products
- Each participating medical office receives a feedback report comparing their results to the comparative database.
- A free Comparative Database Report will be produced providing aggregate medical office-level statistics. The documents will not include any information identifying participating medical offices.
- Until the first comparative database report is produced, medical offices can compare to the 2010 Preliminary Comparative Results (PDF Version, 370 KB; Plugin Software Help).
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Definition of a Medical Office
- A medical office is an outpatient facility in a specific location.
- Each medical office located in a building containing multiple medical offices is considered a separate medical office.
- Providers in a single medical office should share administrative and clinical support staff.
Participation Requirements
To submit data to the database:
- Medical offices must be located in the United States or in a U.S. territory.
- Each medical office must have at least five completed surveys.
- The survey must have been administered in its entirety without significant modifications or deletions:
- No changes to any of the survey item text and response options.
- No reordering of survey items.
- Questions added only at the end of the survey after Section G, before the demographic questions in Section H.
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Timeline and Activities
Registration and Data Submission
Update: There is no data submission in September/October 2012 for the Medical Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture Comparative Database. AHRQ is in the process of reestablishing the timeframe and frequency for future periods for submission of data and plans to inform users/those interested in submitting data once those dates have been determined.
- Step 1: Medical offices, health systems, or survey vendors that have administered the AHRQ Medical Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture indicate their interest in participating in the database by sending an E-mail with "Medical Office Database" in the subject line to DatabasesOnSafetyCulture@ahrq.hhs.gov.
- Step 2: Database staff send registration information to interested submitters.
- Step 3: Medical offices, health systems, or vendors submitting on behalf of medical offices complete registration information.
- Step 4: Database staff review the registration information and request a copy of the survey(s) actually administered. Interested submitters are notified regarding their eligibility for participation.
- Step 5: Eligible medical offices, health systems, or vendors:
- Should follow these survey data specifications (PDF file, 575 KB; Plugin Software Help) for formatting respondent-level data files for submission.
- Provide the information in the Medical Office Information Form (PDF Version, 70 KB; Plugin Software Help) for each medical office submitting data to the database.
- Sign a Data Use Agreement (PDF file, 140 KB; Plugin Software Help), which assures medical offices about the confidentiality of their data and explains how their data will be used.
- Step 6: Eligible medical offices, health systems, or their survey vendors submit respondent-level survey data and other required information about their medical offices.
- Data are submitted using a secure, Web-based system.
- Data files must meet data specifications.
Data Processing and Comparative Database Report Produced
- The data submitted will be processed, and averages, standard deviations, minimum and maximum scores, and percentiles will be produced.
- Additional breakouts of the data by medical office characteristics such as ownership and specialty and respondent characteristics such as staff position will be produced.
- A Comparative Database Report based on the Medical Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture items and composites will be made available without cost in the public domain on the AHRQ Web site and in a limited number of printed copies.
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Contact Information
If you are interested in participating in the Medical Office Survey on Patient Safety Culture Comparative Database, send an E-mail to: DatabasesOnSafetyCulture@ahrq.hhs.gov with your complete contact information and "Medical Office Database" in the subject line.
For technical assistance on data submission, call 1-888-324-9790.
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Current as of May 2012
Internet Citation:
Medical Office Comparative Database Submission Information. May 2012. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/mosurvey11/mosubinfo.htm
540 Gaither Road Rockville, MD 20850 