Frequently Asked Questions

AHRQ has a well-established social media presence that continues to grow with the goal of reaching our audiences where they spend time. We currently use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Some of these platforms have several AHRQ-related accounts. We also have an agency blog, AHRQ Views, where AHRQ leaders write blog posts that draw from Agency data and research to explore changes in the U.S. health system.

Here is a list of our current social media accounts:

• Twitter:
  • @AHRQNews.
  • @AHRQConf.
• Facebook.
• LinkedIn:
  • Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (main).
  • AHRQ TeamSTEPPS (group).
  • AHRQ Data Resources (group).
• YouTube:
  • AHRQ HealthTV.
  • AHRQ en espanol.
  • AHRQ Effectiveness.
  • AHRQ Health IT.
  • AHRQ Primary Care.
  • AHRQ Patient Safety.
  • AHRQ Data Resources.
• AHRQ Views Blog.

Spanish versions are available for the following AHRQ Surveys on Patient Safety Culture:

• Hospital.
• Medical Office.
• Nursing Home.
• Community Pharmacy.
• Ambulatory Surgery Center.
• Health IT Patient Safety Supplemental Item Set.

The Spanish translations are designed for U.S. Spanish-speaking respondents from different countries.

A number of translations in other languages have already been developed by international users who have agreed to share their contact information. Please visit the International Survey Users page for a list of current languages and translation guidelines.

For more information on translating the surveys, contact the Surveys on Patient Safety Culture team (SafetyCultureSurveys@westat.com) to request AHRQ’s permission to translate and/or use the surveys internationally.

AHRQ established the Nursing Home SOPS Database as a central repository for survey data from the Nursing Home SOPS. AHRQ has produced Database Reports, which aggregate data from hundreds of nursing homes that have voluntarily submitted their data to the database. The database serves as an important resource for patient safety culture improvement.

Information about eligibility requirements, registration procedures, and benefits of participating in the database is available on the SOPS site.

The AHRQ Surveys on Patient Safety Culture have several advantages. They are:

1. Available free to the public. The surveys were developed by AHRQ and are available free of charge.
2. An organization-wide instrument. The surveys were designed to be administered to all types of staff, including clinical and nonclinical,in hospitals, nursing homes, medical offices, community pharmacies, and ambulatory surgery centers. They can be used to assess individual units or departments, or can be administered organization-wide.
3. Reliable and valid. The survey development process was careful and rigorous, based on a review of the existing research and other culture surveys. More important, the survey items have demonstrated reliability and validity (For more details, refer to the survey Toolkit materials available on the AHRQ website at https://www.ahrq.gov/sops/index.html.
4. Comprehensive and specific. The surveys cover several areas of patient safety culture, providing a level of detail that helps organizations identify specific areas of strength and areas for improvement. In addition, there are supplemental items that users may add to assess content in areas not included in the core questionnaire (e.g., Health Information Technology Patient Safety Supplement Items and Value and Efficiency Supplemental Items).
5. Easy to use. Each survey has an accompanying Toolkit that contains the following materials:
   • Survey Forms.
   • Survey Items and Dimensions.
   • A Survey User's Guide: Gives step-by-step instructions on how to select a sample, administer the survey and obtain high response rates, and how to analyze and report results.
   • Data Entry and Analysis Tool: A data entry and analysis tool that works with Microsoft® Excel and makes it easy to input your individual-level data from the survey. The tool then automatically creates tables and graphs to display your survey results. To request the tool for the hospital, medical office, nursing home, community pharmacy, or ambulatory surgery center survey, send an email to: DatabasesonSafetyCulture@westat.com.

Unfortunately, the SOPS databases currently accept data from only the United States and U.S. territories. However, we would like to know more about what your plans are or what you have done with the surveys in your country. Please feel free to share with us information about your use of the AHRQ Surveys on Patient Safety Culture in your country.

Please contact the Surveys on Patient Safety Culture team (SafetyCultureSurveys@westat.com) to request AHRQ’s permission to translate and/or use the surveys internationally.

For more information about international use of the Surveys on Patient Safety Culture, go to the SOPS International Users page.

AHRQ established the Medical Office SOPS Database as a central repository for survey data from the Medical Office SOPS. AHRQ has produced Database Reports, which aggregate data from thousands of medical offices that have voluntarily submitted their data to the database. The database serves as an important resource for patient safety culture improvement.

Information about eligibility requirements, registration procedures, and benefits of participating in the database is available on the SOPS site.

The Patient Safety Act authorizes AHRQ to designate or "list" an entity as a Patient Safety Organization (PSO). With some restrictions, a PSO can be any public or private entity. To become or remain an AHRQ-listed PSO, the entity must meet certain requirements such as the utilization of qualified staff and the provision of appropriate security measures with respect to Patient Safety Work Product (PSWP). The work of a PSO is not federally funded. Rather, PSOs may serve as contractors to providers for the analysis and feedback of confidential and privileged information related to patient safety and health care quality.

For more information, go to the PSO website: https://pso.ahrq.gov.

Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs) serve as independent, external experts who can assist providers in analyzing data that a provider voluntarily chooses to report to the PSO. Providers that work with a PSO can benefit from the ability of PSOs to aggregate data from all of the providers reporting to the PSO, enabling PSOs to accumulate large numbers of patient safety events essential for identifying patterns and trends, and to facilitate the identification of underlying causes of infrequent, but often tragic, adverse events.

When a health care provider, including a multi-facility health care system, works with a PSO, it can collect, manage, and analyze data within a protected legal environment, both within and across states, without the fear that information will be used against those providers, thus removing significant barriers that can deter providers' participation in patient safety and quality improvement initiatives.

To help providers select an appropriate PSO, AHRQ has published a summary, "Choosing a Patient Safety Organization" (PDF, 1 MB).

The Patient Safety Act provides broad privilege and confidentiality protections to specific types of information called "patient safety work product" (PSWP) developed when a provider works with a PSO. All information in PSWP is confidential and privileged, including the reporting provider, any provider named in the report, and the provider facility where the event took place. Subject to certain specific exceptions, PSWP may not be disclosed. For example, it cannot be shared in criminal, civil, administrative, or disciplinary proceedings—unless one of the specific exceptions applies. To protect the patient, the Patient Safety Act also references the Standards for the Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA Privacy Rule).