AHRQ Releases Survey Tool to Assess Patient Safety Culture in Ambulatory Surgery Centers

​The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has released a new survey to assess the patient safety culture of ambulatory surgery centers. Similar to AHRQ's safety culture surveys for other healthcare settings (e.g., hospitals, nursing homes, physician practices), the 27-item survey measures the organizational culture pertaining to patient safety in eight dimensions, such as communication, teamwork, staff training, organizational learning, response to mistakes, and management support for patient safety. Results from a pilot study of 59 ambulatory surgery centers that tested the survey in 2014 are also available. The pilot study reflects the responses of 1,821 staff members, including doctors, managers, nurses, support staff, and others.