SOPS Action Planning Tool

This Action Planning Tool was designed primarily for users of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Surveys on Patient Safety Culture® (SOPS®) surveys, as well as the SOPS supplemental items.

The SOPS surveys and supplemental items are an important source of information for healthcare facilities striving to improve patient safety. However, administering a SOPS survey is not the end of the improvement process. It is important to develop and implement action plans, which use survey data for improvement.  

The Action Planning Tool is intended for use after your organization administers the survey and analyzes the results. The Action Planning Tool offers guidance to help you develop an action plan for your unit, department, or facility. You can use the Action Plan Template at the end of the tool to document your answers to the questions below.

1. Identifying Areas To Improve:
   1. What areas do you want to focus on for improvement?
   2. What are your "SMART" goals? (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time bound)
2. Planning Your Improvement Initiatives:
   1. What initiative will you implement?
   2. What resources will you need?
   3. What are possible barriers and how can you overcome them?
   4. How will you measure progress and success?
   5. Will you pilot test the initiatives?
   6. What is the timeline?
3. Communicating Your Action Plan:
   1. How will you share your action plan?
   2. How will you provide progress updates on your action plan?

Public Domain Notice

These documents are in the public domain and may be used and reprinted without permission in the United States for noncommercial purposes, unless materials are clearly noted as copyrighted in the document. No one may reproduce copyrighted materials without the permission of the copyright holders. Users outside the United States must get permission from AHRQ to reprint or translate this product. Anyone wanting to reproduce this product for sale must contact AHRQ for permission.

Surveys on Patient Safety Culture® and SOPS® are registered trademarks of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Suggested Citation: Action Planning Tool Infographic for the AHRQ Surveys on Patient Safety Culture® (SOPS®). (Prepared by Westat, Rockville, MD, under Contract No. GS-00F-009DA/75Q80123F80005). Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; February 2024. AHRQ Publication No. 24-M004.

Suggested Citation: Yount N, Edelman S, Sorra J, Gray L. Action Planning Tool for the AHRQ Surveys on Patient Safety Culture® (SOPS®). (Prepared by Westat, Rockville, MD, under Contract No. HHSP233201500026I/ HHSP23337004T). Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; November 2022. AHRQ Publication No. 23-0011.

The authors of this guide are responsible for its content. Statements in the guide should not be construed as endorsement by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

No investigators have any affiliations or financial involvement (e.g., employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties) that conflict with material presented in this document.