Table 4. Classification dimensions for patient safety practices
Assessing the Evidence for Context-Sensitive Effectiveness and Safety
| Dimension | Definition and examples |
|---|---|
| Regulatory versus voluntary | Whether required by external entity, such as the Joint Commission |
| Setting | Hospital, nursing home, ambulatory |
| Feasibility | Ability to implement PSP in a variety of settings, even in small facilities12 |
| Individual activity vs. organizational change | Whether the target of the PSP is individual providers' behavior (e.g., handwashing) or the structure of the organization |
| Temporal (one-time vs. repeated/long-term) | Structural change (e.g., switch to antibiotic-impregnated catheters) or change that requires regular maintenance (e.g., hand hygiene education) |
| Pervasive in setting vs. targeted to specific units or providers | Whether the PSP addresses a safety issue that applies to all patients in a unit or setting (universal protocol would apply to all surgeries, but fall prevention would be targeted to at-risk patients) |
| Common vs. rare event as target | Whether the patient safety event that the PSP is intended to address is relatively common (e.g., medication errors) or rare (e.g., wrong-site surgery) |
| PSP maturity, established vs. newer | Whether the PSP has been well-studied, and implementation needs are well-known |
| Degree of controversy or conflicting evidence (or both) | Whether the PSP is widely accepted; whether examples of ineffective PSPs exist |
| Degree of behavioral change required for implementation | How much the PSP implementation involves human factors issues (e.g., an institutional policy switching to use of chlorhexidine would not depend on provider behavior) |
| Sensitivity to context | Whether the success of PSP implementation depends on issues such as leadership, patient safety culture, or teamwork |
Page last reviewed December 2010
Internet Citation: Table 4. Classification dimensions for patient safety practices: Assessing the Evidence for Context-Sensitive Effectiveness and Safety .
December 2010. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://archive.ahrq.gov/research/findings/final-reports/contextsensitive/contexttab4.html
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