4- Culture can be Defined and Measured

MODULE 8 | Section 4 of 11

Culture can be Defined and Measured

HOW IS CULTURE MEASURED?

M8s4p2

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) released the first Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture in 2004, allowing hospitals to assess their safety culture across different units and departments. Along with other patient safety culture surveys, these tools are regularly used throughout health care and have been beneficial in identifying opportunities for improvement and motivating change.

THE KEY FEATURES OF A “CULTURE OF SAFETY”

M8s4p6
acknowledgment of the high-risk nature of an organization’s activities and the determination to achieve consistently safe operations
M8s4p4
a blame-free environment where individuals are able to report errors or near misses without fear of reprimand or punishment, but with appropriate accountability known as a “just culture.”
M8s4p5
encouragement of collaboration across ranks and disciplines to seek solutions to patient safety problems
M8s4p3
organizational commitment of resources to address safety concerns
Two key findings over the past 15 years of this work are that culture varies considerably even within single organizations — the safety culture of one unit (say, the 5th floor ICU) can be completely different from the culture of another unit in the same hospital (the 6th floor ICU) — and that safety culture is linked to real-world results. Higher patient safety culture scores associated with improved patient outcomes across health systems.1,2

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Read More about Patient Safety Culture:
Primer on Culture of Safety, AHRQ Patient Safety Network
AHRQ Surveys on Patient Safety Culture
AHRQ Just Culture (Parts 1 and 2)
M8s4p9
Similar to the methods and motivations of the patient safety culture surveys, we have developed a high-value care culture survey (HVCCS)TM. This survey is meant to capture domains that contribute to a local high-value care culture in hospitals and identify potential targets for organizational development and improvements.

THE FOUR DOMAINS OF A HIGH-VALUE CARE CULTURE

M8s4p10

LEADERSHIP AND HEALTH SYSTEM MESSAGING

This first factor covers engagement with frontline clinicians, leadership visibility and support, high quality communication about quality and safety of care, role modeling, and pride and formal training in value-based care.

DATA TRANSPARENCY AND ACCESS

This second factor focuses on the availability of cost and quality data for frontline clinicians.

COMFORT WITH COST CONVERSATIONS

This factor covers comfort of clinicians to have conversations about costs with patients.

BLAME-FREE ENVIRONMENT

The fourth domain focuses on a sense of individual blame within divisions, practice groups and training programs.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

M8s4p12

Read more about the High-Value Care Culture Survey

M8s4p11

“You can’t create value without thinking about culture. We each shape our culture every day, and the little things we do can make a world of difference.”

Reshma Gupta MD
Director of Evaluation and Outreach, Costs of Care

REFERENCES

  1. 1- Singer S, Lin S, Falwell A, Gaba D, Baker L. Relationship of safety climate and safety performance in hospitalsHealth Serv Res. 2009;44(2 Pt1):399-421.

 

  1. 2- Berry JC, Davis JT, Bartman T, et al. Improved safety culture and teamwork climate are associated with decreases in patient harm and hospital mortality across a hospital systemJ Patient Saf. 2016;epub:1-7.
  2.  

Leave a Comment