Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Data Collection; Comment Request

SUMMARY: This notice announces the intention of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to request that the Office of  Management and Budget (OMB) approve the proposed information collection  project: ``Pilot Test of the Proposed Pharmacy Survey on Patient Safety Culture.'' In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C.3501-3521, A1-IRQ invites the public to comment on this proposed information collection.

DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by May 10, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be submitted to: 

Doris Lefkowitz, Reports Clearance Officer, AHRQ, by e-mail at 
doris.lefkowitz@AHRQ.hhs.gov.

    Copies of the proposed collection plans, data collection 
instruments, and specific details on the estimated burden can be 
obtained from the AHRQ Reports Clearance Officer.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Doris Lefkowitz, AHRQ Reports 
Clearance Officer, (301) 427-1477, or by e-mail at

 doris.lefkowitz@AHRQ.hhs.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Proposed Project

Pilot Test of the Proposed Pharmacy Survey on Patient 
Safety Culture

    As the baby boomer population ages, the general U.S. population 
continues to grow, and as drug therapies for the treatment of chronic 
diseases become more efficacious, the expected increase in the number 
of prescriptions and demand for pharmaceutical products is likely to 
increase the potential for medication errors in community/retail 
pharmacies. In 2007, there were about 56,000 community/retail 
pharmacies, including about 22,000 traditional chain pharmacy 
companies, nearly 17,000 independent drug stores, about 9,300 
supermarket pharmacies, and about 7,700 mass merchant pharmacies. 
Numerous reports substantiate the presence of medication errors in 
pharmacies. For example, one national observational study of 
prescription dispensing accuracy and safety in 50 pharmacies in the 
U.S. found a rate of about 4 errors per day in a pharmacy filling 250 
prescriptions daily. This error rate translates to an estimated 51.5 
million errors occurring during the filling of 3 billion prescriptions 
each year.

    Given the widespread impact of pharmacies on patient safety, the 
new Pharmacy Survey on Patient Safety Culture (Pharmacy SOPS) will 
measure pharmacy staff perceptions about what is important in their 
organization and what attitudes and behaviors related to patient safety 
are supported, rewarded, and expected. The survey will help community/
retail pharmacies to identify and discuss strengths and weaknesses of 
patient safety culture within their individual pharmacies. They can 
then use that knowledge to develop appropriate action plans to improve 
their practices and their culture of patient safety. This survey is 
designed for use in community/retail pharmacies, which includes chain 
drugstores (e.g., Walgreens and CVS), supermarket pharmacies, 
independently owned pharmacies, and mass merchant pharmacies (e.g., 
Wal-Mart, Costco, Target), not for use in hospital pharmacies.

    This research has the following goals:
    (1) Cognitively test and modify as necessary the Pharmacy Survey              on Patient Safety Culture Questionnaire;
    (2) Pretest and modify the questionnaire as necessary;
    (3) Make the final questionnaire available to the public.

    This study is being conducted by AHRQ through its contractor, 
Westat, pursuant to AHRQ's statutory authority to conduct and support 
research on healthcare and on systems for the delivery of such care, 
including activities with respect to the quality, effectiveness, 
efficiency, appropriateness and value of healthcare services and with 
respect to quality measurement and improvement. 42 U.S.C. 299a(a)(1) 
and (2).

Full Federal Register Announcement