In 1999, the Institute of Medicine called for health care organizations to develop a "culture of safety" such that their workforce and processes focus on improving the reliability and safety of care for patients (IOM, 1999; To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System). To respond to the need for tools to assess patient safety culture in health care, AHRQ developed and pilot tested the Nursing Home Survey on Patient Safety Culture with OMB approval (OMB NO. 0935-0132; Approved July 5, 2007).
The survey is designed to enable nursing homes to assess provider and staff opinions about patient safety issues, medical error, and error reporting and includes 42 items that measure 12 dimensions of patient safety culture. AHRQ made the survey publicly available along with a Survey User's Guide and other toolkit materials in November 2008 on the AHRQ Web site (located at http://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/quality-patient-safety/patientsafetyculture/nursing-home/index.html).
The AHRQ Nursing Home SOPS Comparative Database consists of data from the AHRQ Nursing Home Survey on Patient Safety Culture. Nursing homes in the U.S. are asked to voluntarily submit data from the survey to AHRQ through its contractor, Westat. The Nursing Home SOPS database (OMB NO. 0935-0195, last approved on June 12, 2012) was developed by AHRQ in 2011 in response to requests from nursing homes interested in knowing how their patient safety culture survey results compare to those of other nursing homes in their efforts to improve patient safety.
Rationale for the information collection. The Nursing Home SOPS and the Comparative Database support AHRQ's goals of promoting improvements in the quality and safety of health care in nursing home settings. The survey, toolkit materials, and comparative database results are all made publicly available on AHRQ's Web site. Technical assistance is provided by AHRQ through its contractor at no charge to nursing homes, to facilitate the use of these materials for nursing home patient safety and quality improvement.
The goal of this project is to renew the Nursing Home SOPS Comparative Database. This database will:
1) Allow nursing homes to compare their patient safety culture survey results with those of other nursing homes,
2) Provide data to nursing homes to facilitate internal assessment and learning in the patient safety improvement process, and
3) Provide supplemental information to help nursing homes identify their strengths and areas with potential for improvement in patient safety culture.
US Code:
42 USC 299
Name of Law: Healthcare Research and Quality Act of 1999
The estimated hour burden for data file submission decreased from 5.5 hours in the previous information collection request (ICR) to 1 hour in this ICR. This decrease is due to efficiencies and improvements made in the data submission system. Even though the number of potential respondents increased since the last ICR, the total burden hours have decreased from 511 to 455, a decrease of 56 hours.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Eligibility/Registration Form