An improved safety culture within medical offices may not always translate to high quality measure scores, according to research published in the Journal of Patient Safety.
Researchers administered the Medical Office Survey on Patient Safety to 24 primary care officials in Cleveland. The survey allowed primary care staff to rate 12 dimensions of patient safety culture and a single overall patient safety rating. Using survey feedback, researchers calculated an aggregate patient safety score and sought to determine any link to quality measure outcomes.
The researchers found significant variation between patient safety culture scores and quality scores from location to location.
"Although safety theory predicts a positive association between safety culture and quality, we found no meaningful associations between safety culture and currently accepted measures of primary care clinical quality," the authors wrote. They also noted additional studies may be necessary to determine is these findings hold true on a larger scale.
Researchers administered the Medical Office Survey on Patient Safety to 24 primary care officials in Cleveland. The survey allowed primary care staff to rate 12 dimensions of patient safety culture and a single overall patient safety rating. Using survey feedback, researchers calculated an aggregate patient safety score and sought to determine any link to quality measure outcomes.
The researchers found significant variation between patient safety culture scores and quality scores from location to location.
"Although safety theory predicts a positive association between safety culture and quality, we found no meaningful associations between safety culture and currently accepted measures of primary care clinical quality," the authors wrote. They also noted additional studies may be necessary to determine is these findings hold true on a larger scale.
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