A hospital's "safety culture" is a critical component of quality care delivery, based on a Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine study, according to General Surgery News.
Martin Makary, MD, surgery and health policy & management professor at Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, led the study. Researchers assessed the connection between 12 safety culture indicators and surgical site infections in colon surgery at seven Minnesota hospitals.
Journal of the American College of Surgeons published the study online.
Here are five insights:
1. "Safety culture" involves nontechnical skills like teamwork and care coordination.
2. This is the first study to analyze the connection between safety culture and surgical outcomes; it concluded that a hospital's culture contributes to patient outcomes.
3. Ten safety culture indicators were associated with lower SSI incidences.
4. According to General Surgery News, the 10 indicators included:
- Overall perceptions of patient safety
- Teamwork across units
- Organizational learning
- Feedback and communication about error
- Management support for patient safety
- Teamwork within units
- Communication openness
- Supervisor/manager expectations of actions promoting safety
- Nonpunitive response to errors
- Frequency of events reported
5. Patient handoffs and transitions were not connected to infection rates.
