New AHRQ tool assesses patient safety culture in pharmacies

Research Activities, December 2012, No. 388

New AHRQ tool assesses�patient safety culture in pharmacies

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has released the Pharmacy Survey on Patient Safety Culture and a free toolkit of materials that helps community pharmacies assess their culture of patient safety.�It is the latest survey�in AHRQ's�suite of patient safety culture surveys now being used by�hospitals, nursing homes, and medical offices.

The new survey is designed for pharmacy staff, including clerks, technicians, and pharmacists. It�includes 36 survey items that measure 11 areas of patient safety culture such as physical space and environment, patient counseling, communication about prescriptions across shifts, and teamwork.� It also includes items about the frequency of documenting mistakes and an overall rating on patient safety. Toolkit materials include the survey form, a document identifying items by composite, a Survey User's Guide, and results from 55 pharmacies that participated in the 2012 pilot study.

To download the survey, visit http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/patientsafetyculture/pharmsurvindex.htm.

Return to Contents
Proceed to Next Article