New AHRQ Tool Assesses Patient Safety Culture in Pharmacies

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.