Abstract
Objective: To analyze whether the results on quality assurance and safety culture in a healthcare organization are related to and affected by the actions implemented. Setting: Health Insurance of Work-related Accidents and Occupational Diseases. Methods: The study was conducted as a longitudinal observational study that analyzed the relationship of the Safety Culture and Quality Assurance measurements. Participants who were involved came from small centers with less than eight workers (N = 52), big centers (eight and more workers) (N = 707), and those centers with quality coordinators (N = 91). Data were collected during the years 2015 and 2016. Results: A total of 595 healthcare professionals responded in 2015 and 491 in 2016. The scores showed a positive progression both in Quality Assurance (T-test = 3.5, p = 0.001) and in Safety Culture (T-test = 5.6, p < 0.0001). Hence, the gradient of improvement in quality (average 5.5%) was greater compared to that of the safety culture (2.1%). Conclusions: The assessments of the quality assurance goals were consistent with the safety culture assessment. Hence, the results on Safety Culture were observed to be more stable over time.
Highlights
A commitment on quality objectives is a crucial element of quality policy in high-reliability organizations (HROs), such as hospitals and other healthcare institutions
In 2015, 499 professionals responded to the safety culture questionnaire while in 2016 about 400 professionals responded
The response trends in the evaluation of the QA and Safety Culture results were similar, appreciating that the gradient of the improvement was higher for QA than Safety Culture (Table 1)
Summary
A commitment on quality objectives is a crucial element of quality policy in high-reliability organizations (HROs), such as hospitals and other healthcare institutions. The quality of care includes objectives related to effectiveness, efficiency, and a patient’s experience [1]. Healthcare organizations are aware of the importance of promoting safety practices and the resiliency analysis of the clinical practice in order to improve quality. Quality assurance and patient safety are usually analyzed from different approaches that are directly related [2]. The involvement of front-line professionals in safety is a prerequisite for the achievement of an increased quality environment for patients [3]. Healthcare providers’ attitudes, viewpoints, and behaviors in quality, and their safety culture, are crucial for the transformation of healthcare organizations in order to achieve their quality targets, including patients’ satisfaction [4,5,6]
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