Hospitals should measure the culture of safety in their facility, as the only way to start a patient safety improvement effort is to know the organization's strengths and weaknesses in the area.
A good culture of safety survey will provide information in the following two areas, according to a whitepaper by The Greeley Company:
• Long-term changes in culture. To track this data, hospitals should perform surveys every 18 to 24 months.
• Short-term diagnostic information. To drive change in the short-term, surveys must reveal this information as well.
After the surveys are complete, hospitals should track results in the following key cultural areas, according to the whitepaper:
• Self-reporting and improvement culture
• Willingness to work toward a common goal
• Acceptance of accountability
• Risk-balanced decision making
• Medical staff engagement