How hospitals select their patient safety priorities: An exploratory study of four Veterans Health Administration hospitals

Background Hospitals face ongoing pressure to reduce patient safety events. However, given resource constraints, hospitals must prioritize their safety improvements. There is limited literature on how hospitals select their safety priorities. Purpose The aim of this research was to describe and compare the approaches used by Veterans Health Administration (VA) hospitals to select their safety priorities. Methodology Semistructured telephone interviews with key informants (n = 16) were used to collect data on safety priorities in four VA hospitals from May to December 2016. We conducted a directed content analysis of the interview notes using an organizational learning perspective. We coded for descriptive data on the approaches (e.g., set of cues, circumstances, and activities) used to select safety priorities, a priori organizational learning capabilities (learning processes, learning environment, and learning-oriented leadership), and emergent domains. For cross-site comparisons, we examined the coded data for patterns. Results All hospitals used multiple approaches to select their safety priorities; these approaches used varied across hospitals. Although no single approach was reported as particularly influential, all hospitals used approaches that addressed system level or national requirements (i.e., externally required activities). Additional approaches used by hospitals (e.g., responding to staff concerns of patient safety issues, conducting a multidisciplin...
Source: Health Care Management Review - Category: American Health Tags: Online Only Source Type: research