Psychometric Properties of the Romanian Version of the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPS).

OBJECTIVE: To explore psychometrics of the Romanian version of the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPS) released by the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in 2004. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The original US survey with 12 composites and 42 items was translated (back translation method), pre-tested on a few staff and then minimally adjusted. A qualitative cross-sectional study was carried out in units from six hospitals in four Romanian regions, based on the census of medical and non-medical staff (n. 969). Participants completed a paper-based self-administered questionnaire. The main outcome measures were: descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), internal reliability and intercorrelations among survey composites. RESULTS: Nurses accounted for 67% of respondents, and doctors for 23%. Most work units were surgery (24%) and medical specialties (22%). After individual-level CFA on half of the sample, Staffing and Overall perceptions of patient safety composites were dropped and Feedback & communication about error and Communication openness composite items were aggregated to a single Communication composite. Subsequent CFA on the second half of the sample indicated that the novel composite structure adequately fitted the data: comparative fit index=0.90; root mean square error of approximation=0.06; standardized root mean square residual=0.06. Internal consistency was .0.70 for most composites. Spearman intercorrelations among the patient safety composites at the individual level averaged 0.28. CONCLUSION: Psychometrics of the Romanian version of the HSOPS tested in Romania was acceptable for nine composites with 31 items. Integration of this survey with items more pertinent for Romania is suggested.

Exploring relationships between hospital patient safety culture and Consumer Reports safety scores.

BACKGROUND: A number of private and public companies calculate and publish proprietary hospital patient safety scores based on publicly available quality measures initially reported by the U.S. federal government. This study examines whether patient safety culture perceptions of U.S. hospital staff in a large national survey are related to publicly reported patient safety ratings of hospitals. METHODS: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (Hospital SOPS) assesses provider and staff perceptions of hospital patient safety culture. Consumer Reports (CR), a U.S. based non-profit organization, calculates and shares with its subscribers a Hospital Safety Score calculated annually from patient experience survey data and outcomes data gathered from federal databases. Linking data collected during similar time periods, we analyzed relationships between staff perceptions of patient safety culture composites and the CR Hospital Safety Score and its five components using multiple multivariate linear regressions. RESULTS: We analyzed data from 164 hospitals, with patient safety culture survey responses from 140,316 providers and staff, with an average of 856 completed surveys per hospital and an average response rate per hospital of 56%. Higher overall Hospital SOPS composite average scores were significantly associated with higher overall CR Hospital Safety Scores (ß = 0.24, p < 0.05). For 10 of the 12 Hospital SOPS composites, higher patient safety culture scores were associated with higher CR patient experience scores on communication about medications and discharge. CONCLUSION: This study found a relationship between hospital staff perceptions of patient safety culture and the Consumer Reports Hospital Safety Score, which is a composite of patient experience and outcomes data from federal databases. As hospital managers allocate resources to improve patient safety culture within their organizations, their efforts may also indirectly improve consumer-focused, publicly reported hospital rating scores like the Consumer Reports Hospital Safety Score.

Psychometric properties of the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) Clinician and Group Adult Visit Survey.

BACKGROUND: The Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) Clinician and Group Adult Visit Survey enables patients to report their experiences with outpatient medical offices. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the factor structure and reliability of the CAHPS Clinician and Group (CG-CAHPS) Adult Visit Survey. DATA SOURCE: Data from 21,318 patients receiving care in 450 clinical practice sites collected from March 2010 to December 2010 were analyzed from the CG-CAHPS Database. RESEARCH DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: Individual level and multilevel confirmatory factor analyses were used to examine CAHPS survey responses at the patient and practice site levels. We also estimated internal consistency reliability and practice site level reliability. Correlations among multi-item composites and correlations between the composites and 2 global rating items were examined. MEASURES: Scores on CG-CAHPS composites assessing Access to Care, Doctor Communication, Courteous/Helpful Staff, and 2 global ratings of whether one would Recommend their Doctor, and an Overall Doctor Rating. RESULTS: Analyses provide support for the hypothesized 3-factor model assessing Access to Care, Doctor Communication, and Courteous/Helpful Staff. In addition, the internal consistency reliabilities were ≥ 0.77 and practice site level reliabilities for sites with >4 clinicians were ≥ 0.75. All composites were positively and significantly correlated with the 2 global rating items, with Doctor Communication having the strongest relationship with the global ratings. CONCLUSIONS: The CG-CAHPS Adult Visit Survey has acceptable psychometric properties at the individual level and practice site level. The analyses suggest that the survey items are measuring their intended concepts and yield reliable information.

Exploring digital divides: an examination of eHealth technology use in health information seeking, communication and personal health information management in the USA.

Recent government initiatives to deploy health information technology in the USA, coupled with a growing body of scholarly evidence linking online heath information and positive health-related behaviors, indicate a widespread belief that access to health information and health information technologies can help reduce healthcare inequalities. However, it is less clear whether the benefits of greater access to online health information and health information technologies is equitably distributed across population groups, particularly to those who are underserved. To examine this issue, this article employs the 2007 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) to investigate relationships between a variety of socio-economic variables and the use of the web-based technologies for health information seeking, personal health information management and patient-provider communication within the context of the USA. This study reveals interesting patterns in technology adoption, some of which are in line with previous studies, while others are less clear. Whether these patterns indicate early evidence of a narrowing divide in eHealth technology use across population groups as a result of the narrowing divide in Internet access and computer ownership warrants further exploration. In particular, the findings emphasize the need to explore differences in the use of eHealth tools by medically underserved and disadvantaged groups. In so doing, it will be important to explore other psychosocial variables, such as health literacy, that may be better predictors of health consumers' eHealth technology adoption.