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Table 4 Methods and instruments for measuring the effects of auditing

From: Effects of auditing patient safety in hospital care: design of a mixed-method evaluation

Outcome variable

Data source

Frequency (type) of measurement and sample size per measurement

Moments of measurement

Unit of analysis

Primary outcome

Adverse events and complications

Retrospective patient record review based on a protocol originally developed by the Harvard Medical Practice Study [19]

2 (before–and-after measurement) n = 400

- 3 months; + 15 months

Patient

Secondary outcomes

Patient experiences

Consumer quality-index questionnaire [29] based on the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems [30]

3 (before-and-after measurement) n = 800

- 3 months; + 9 months and 15 months

Patient

Standardised mortality rate

Routine administrative data of the hospital

Continuously (time series) n = 233*

Monthly

Patient

Prolonged hospital stay

Routine hospital administration data

Continuously (time series) n = 3268**

Monthly

Patient

Team climate

Team Climate Inventory [18]

2 (before and after measurement) n = 132***

- 3 months; + 15 months

Professional or team

Patient safety culture

Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture [31, 32]

2 (before-and-after measurement) n = 132***

- 3 months; + 15 months

Professional

 

Safety walk arounds [33, 34]

2 (before-and-after measurement) n = 8

- 3 months; + 15 months

Department

  1. *Number of patients in the eight departments who died in 2012.
  2. **Number of patients with prolonged stay in 2012 in the eight departments.
  3. ***Average number of clinical healthcare providers per department.