• Ashley Bowden, Shantel Mullin, Casey Tak, Linda S Tyler, Nancy A Nickman, and Krystal Moorman.
• Pharmacy Services, University of Utah Health, Salt Lake City, UT.
• Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2019 Feb 21; 76 (6): 360-365.

PurposeThis study evaluated employee perceptions of safety culture in 9 health-system-owned community pharmacies using a safety culture survey before and after implementation of a Pharmacy Services Call Center (PSCC) designed to reduce distractions through reduction of phone volume related to refills and prescription readiness.MethodsThe Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Community Pharmacy Survey on Patient Safety Culture (CPSPSC) was used to collect employee safety culture perceptions pre-post PSCC implementation. A percent positive score (PPS) was calculated for each of 11 CPSPSC composite questions and for 1 overall rating of patient safety question based on AHRQ-suggested analytic procedures. Pre-post PSCC implementation, PPSs were compared using a chi-square test.ResultsOverall, the lowest composite PPS (Staffing, Work Pressure, and Pace) and the highest composite PPS (Patient Counseling) ranked the same in both survey periods. Of the nine PSCC pharmacies, statistically significant (p < 0.05) PPS improvements occurred in 4 composites including Teamwork (11.9%), Communication About Mistakes (18%), Staff Training and Skills (20.6%), and Staffing, Work Pressure, and Pace (11.8%). PSCC pharmacies also reported a 9.3% (NS) improvement in overall rating of pharmacy patient safety post PSCC implementation. Separate analysis of pharmacist responses was consistent with pharmacy level results, but technician results differed slightly in overall rating of safety perceptions.ConclusionPresence of the PSCC appeared to increase pharmacy employees' perceptions of safety culture in the community pharmacies, an integral part of overall patient safety.© American Society of Health-System Pharmacists 2019. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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