Using Survey Data to Plan Improvement

This Quality Exchange focuses on how two primary care clinics improved patient safety using data from their Patient Safety Culture Survey results.

Do you work in primary care? If yes, how does your primary care clinic culture support patient safety? Are there opportunities for improvement? These Quality Exchange improvement stories share what can happen when you ask these important questions.

We interviewed two clinics managers who participated in the Patient Safety Culture Survey to learn how they used their survey data to improve communication and patient safety.

Download stories and resources

Quality Exchange story – E-prescribing improves communication with pharmacies at the Wetaskiwin Family Medical Practice (4-minute read)

Clinic manager, Corry Coyne, noticed that the clinic’s fax machine was always busy with incoming faxes from pharmacies needing to clarify information. Learn how their survey results validated these concerns, and what actions the clinic took to improve communication.

Quality Exchange story – Daily huddles improve communication and culture at the Rimbey Medical Clinic (4-minute read)

Prompted by a lower-than-expected score in one of the survey categories, clinic manager, Shirley Knauft, shares the clinic’s experience of implementing team huddles. Learn how they implemented this change and evaluated the impact.

Resource – Patient Safety Culture Survey

The HQCA partners with primary care clinics interested in participating in our Patient Safety Culture Survey. The survey is designed for all staff (i.e., primary care physicians, nurses, other clinic staff), and can be used to raise staff awareness about patient safety and evaluate areas such as communication openness, communication about errors, office standardization, and teamwork.

Resource – Improvement Guide for Using Survey Results

It can be challenging to know what to do with your survey results. This guide provides healthcare leaders and those interested in quality improvement with seven steps to review survey data, identify areas for improvement, and create a quality improvement plan.