Purpose and Use of This Report

2010 User Comparative Database

In response to requests from hospitals interested in comparing their results with other hospitals on the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (hospital survey), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) established the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture Comparative Database. The first user comparative database report was released in 2007 and included data from 382 U.S. hospitals. Subsequent reports in 2008 and 2009 included data from more hospitals and respondents.

The Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture 2010 User Comparative Database Report consists of data from 885 hospitals and 338,607 hospital staff respondents who completed the survey. The 885 hospitals in the 2010 report fall into two categories:

  • 347 hospitals from the previous database report that are still included in the 2010 report.
  • 538 hospitals that submitted data for the 2010 report.

Hospitals do not necessarily administer the hospital patient safety culture survey every year. They may administer it on an 18-month, 24-month, or other cycle. Therefore, the comparative database is a "rolling" indicator. It retains data from prior years when a hospital does not have new data to submit, replaces older data with more recent data when available, and adds data from hospitals submitting for the first time. The user comparative database report will be produced yearly through at least 2012.

This user comparative database report was developed as a tool for the following purposes:

  • Comparison—To allow hospitals to compare their patient safety culture survey results with other hospitals.
  • Assessment and Learning—To provide data to hospitals to facilitate internal assessment and learning in the patient safety improvement process.
  • Supplemental Information—To provide supplemental information to help hospitals identify their strengths and areas with potential for improvement in patient safety culture.
  • Trending—To provide data that describe changes in patient safety culture over time.

This report presents statistics (averages, standard deviations, minimum and maximum scores, and percentiles) on the patient safety culture areas or composites assessed in the survey and on survey items. In addition, the 2010 report includes a chapter on trending that describes patient safety culture change over time for the 321 hospitals that submitted data from their previous and most recent safety culture surveys.

Appendix A presents overall results by hospital characteristics (bed size, teaching status, ownership and control, geographic region). Appendix B presents results by respondent characteristics (hospital work area/unit, staff position, interaction with patients).

Appendixes C and D show trends over time for the 321 hospitals that administered the survey and submitted data more than once. Average percent positive scores from the most recent and previous administrations are shown on the survey composites and items. Appendix C shows scores broken down by hospital characteristics (bed size, teaching status, ownership and control). Appendix D shows scores broken down by respondent characteristics (hospital work area/unit, staff position, interaction with patients).

Note: Because several hospital geographic region breakout categories had fewer than 20 trending hospitals, trending results are not shown by hospital geographic region to ensure hospital confidentiality.

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Page last reviewed March 2010
Internet Citation: Purpose and Use of This Report: 2010 User Comparative Database. March 2010. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. https://archive.ahrq.gov/professionals/quality-patient-safety/patientsafetyculture/hospital/2010/purp.html