Using the SOPS® Name
The SOPS surveys and supplemental items are developed in accordance with principles and standards established by AHRQ. They are known for their rigorous and scientific development and evaluation process. The development process includes input from providers, managers, and staff in healthcare organizations, as well as from researchers and patient safety experts. The surveys and administration methodologies undergo extensive testing and are aligned with other SOPS surveys where appropriate. In addition, the SOPS team periodically reviews the surveys and receives input from users and experts to ensure that the questions are consistent with changes in the healthcare delivery system, existing standards of practice, and survey best practices.
Guidelines for Using the SOPS Name
Organizations that administer an existing SOPS survey, with or without supplemental items, may use the SOPS name as long as the core items and response options of the survey have not been changed, omitted, or reordered. The SOPS name may not be used if the wording of core items or response options has been modified, if core items are omitted and only a subset of core items is used, or if the survey items are administered out of order. All SOPS surveys must include the statement “SOPS® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.”
Users may add supplemental or custom questions toward the end of a SOPS survey before the background questions. In cases where a subset of core items is used and the entire SOPS survey is not administered, AHRQ requests appropriate attribution for the items that are used, by noting that the questionnaire or items have been "adapted from" or "modified from" a specified SOPS survey.
To maintain comparability and consistency across SOPS surveys, AHRQ offers the following guidelines regarding what changes you can make to a SOPS survey and how to give proper attribution to the SOPS Program.
Describing the SOPS Program
In the text of written documents (journal articles, press coverage, etc.), use the full name, acronym, and trademark symbols “Surveys on Patient Safety Culture® (SOPS®)” to refer to the program the first time that it appears. Subsequent references can use the abbreviation “SOPS” without the registered trademark symbol. Where appropriate, indicate that SOPS is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
