1. Patient Safety in Primary Care: Conceptual Meanings to the Health Care Team and Patients
- Author
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Samantha I. Pitts, Sydney M. Dy, Elyse C. Lasser, Hadi Kharrazi, Sarah Hudson Scholle, Alden Yuanhong Lai, Jill A. Marsteller, Ja Alah Ai Heughan, Christina T. Yuan, Ayse P. Gurses, Zackary Berger, Tyler Oberlander, and Susan M. Hannum
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Adolescent ,Patients ,Referral ,Attitude of Health Personnel ,Coding (therapy) ,Article ,Young Adult ,03 medical and health sciences ,Patient safety ,0302 clinical medicine ,Nursing ,Health care ,Humans ,Medicine ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Medical diagnosis ,Aged ,Patient Care Team ,Primary Health Care ,business.industry ,030503 health policy & services ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,Focus Groups ,Middle Aged ,Focus group ,Female ,Patient Safety ,Thematic analysis ,0305 other medical science ,Family Practice ,business ,Qualitative research - Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Patient safety in primary care is an emerging priority, and experts have highlighted medications, diagnoses, transitions, referrals, and testing as key safety domains. This study aimed to (1) describe how frontline clinicians, administrators, and staff conceptualize patient safety in primary care; and (2) compare and contrast these conceptual meanings from the patient’s perspective. METHODS: We conducted interviews with 101 frontline clinicians, administrators and staff, and focus groups with 65 adult patients at 10 patient-centered medical homes. We used thematic analysis to approach coding. RESULTS: Findings indicate that frontline personnel conceptualized patient safety more in terms of work functions, which reflect the grouping of tasks or responsibilities to guide how care is being delivered. Frontline personnel and patients conceptualized patient safety in largely consistent ways. DISCUSSION: Function-based conceptualizations of patient safety in primary care may better reflect frontline personnel and patients’ experiences than domain-based conceptualizations, which are favored by experts. ( J Am Board Fam Med 2020;33:754–764.)
- Published
- 2020
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