title: Relationship of hospital organizational culture to patient safety climate in the Veterans Health Administration.
abstract: Improving safety climate could enhance patient safety, yet little evidence exists regarding the relationship between hospital characteristics and safety climate. This study assessed the relationship between hospitals' organizational culture and safety climate in Veterans Health Administration (VA) hospitals nationally. Data were collected from a sample of employees in a stratified random sample of 30 VA hospitals over a 6-month period (response rate = 50%; n = 4,625). The Patient Safety Climate in Healthcare Organizations (PSCHO) and the Zammuto and Krakower surveys were used to measure safety climate and organizational culture, respectively. Higher levels of safety climate were significantly associated with higher levels of group and entrepreneurial cultures, while lower levels of safety climate were associated with higher levels of hierarchical culture. Hospitals could use these results to design specific interventions aimed at improving safety climate.
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Quality, Outcomes, and Economic Research, Bedford, MA, USA. christine.hartmann@va.gov
authors.forename: Christine W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Hartmann
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Meterko
authors.forename: Amy K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Rosen
authors.lastname: Shibei Zhao
authors.forename: Priti
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Shokeen
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Singer
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Gaba
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000517:prevention & control; D008875:Middle Aged; D015279:Organizational Culture; D017751:Safety Management; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs; D055815:Young Adult