SOPS Medical Office Survey Data Submission Information

Participation Requirements

• Medical offices must be located in the United States or in a U.S. territory.
• Medical offices must submit data formatted according to the site and data specifications.
• Each medical office must have a minimum of 3 respondents to participate in the database, and a minimum of 5 to receive a feedback report.

Definition of a Medical Office

• A medical office is an outpatient facility.
• A medical practice or health system may have multiple medical offices in different locations; however each unique location would be considered a separate medical office.
• Each medical office located in a building that contains multiple medical offices is considered a separate medical office.
  • If providers in a medical office building share some or all administrative staff and/or clinical support staff, they may be considered one medical office.

What Medical Offices Will Need for Submission

1. Enter Site Information: Medical office site information includes details such as site name, address, contact information and some site characteristics such as number of providers, specialty and ownership. Please use the Medical Office Site-Level Data File Specifications (PDF, 205 KB) as a guide when entering your site information.
   Sample Medical Office Site Information Excel File (Excel, 23 KB)
   Users can upload medical office site information in one of two ways:
   • Enter medical office site information for one medical office at a time through the online site information form (best for submitters of one medical office).
   • Enter medical office site information for multiple sites all at once in an Excel spreadsheet based on above specifications (best for submitters with more than one medical office).
   NOTE: Each medical office that is part of a medical office chain or health care system is considered a separate medical office for submission purposes. Each medical office must be submitted with a unique site identification number and site details.
2. Submit Questionnaire(s) Administered: Medical offices will need to upload a copy of the actual questionnaire(s) administered. If your medical office used a copy of the Spanish questionnaire, please upload this questionnaire as well. We will review the submitted questionnaire(s) and users will receive an approved/not approved email within 3 business days.
   NOTE: Medical offices will be able to submit their Data Use Agreement (DUA) (step 3) and survey data (step 4) prior to questionnaire approval. However, if the questionnaire is not approved because it does not meet the criteria below, you will be notified, and your survey data will be removed from the database.
   We encourage surveys to be emailed to DatabasesOnSafetyCulture@westat.com for review and approval prior to survey administration and data submission.

   All submissions of survey data to the SOPS Medical Office Survey Database must comply with the following guidelines:

   • The SOPS Medical Office Survey must be administered in its entirety without any changes or deletions to the item text and/or response options of the core survey (Sections A-G).
   • The core survey items cannot be reordered.
   • All definitions of terms, subheadings, and instructions must be included in the survey.
   • Changes can only be made to the background questions at the end of the survey:
     • If background question response categories are changed, they need to be cross walked back to the original survey categories before submitting data.
     • Background questions at the end can be deleted.

   Medical offices that administer any of the SOPS Medical Office Survey supplemental items must comply with the following guidelines:

   • SOPS Medical Office Survey supplemental items must be administered with the core survey.
   • No changes can be made to the supplemental item text and/or response options.
   • All composite measures and single item measures within the supplemental item set(s) can be administered, OR only a subset of the measures can be administered.
   • A subset of the supplemental measures would include:
     • Selected composite measures
       — However, ALL items within the selected composite measures must be administered.
     • Selected single item measures
       — You can include or delete any single item measures.
     • Selected supplemental items must not be reordered.
     • All definitions of terms, subheadings (re-lettering sections as needed), and instructions from the supplemental items must be included in the survey.
3. Sign and Submit Data Use Agreement (DUA): Each medical office is required to submit a signed SOPS Medical Office Data Use Agreement (PDF, 188 KB). Vendors cannot sign data use agreements for medical offices or medical office systems.
   To submit the DUA, please sign and return a copy of your DUA via:
   • The Data Use Agreement (DUA) Submission Portal, or
   • Email DatabasesOnSafetyCulture@westat.com

   NOTE: Medical office systems are required to list all individual medical offices the signed DUA covers.

4. Submit Medical Office Survey Data: Medical offices will need to upload their medical office survey data, conforming to the data specifications of the survey version administered. Your data will not be accepted if you combined data from multiple site locations under a single site identification number.
   Supported Survey Version
   Medical Office Survey
   • Medical Office Survey Data Specifications (PDF, 272 KB)
   • Sample Medical Office Survey Data File (Excel, 16 KB)
   Medical Office Survey with Supplemental Items
   • Medical Office Survey with Diagnostic Safety and/or Value and Efficiency Supplemental Items Data Specifications (PDF, 379 KB)
     • NOTE: If your organization chose to administer only a subset of the supplemental items, leave columns blank for the survey items that were not administered.
   • Sample Medical Office Survey with Diagnostic Safety and/or Value and Efficiency Supplemental Items Data File (Excel, 17 KB)