Characteristics of the hospitals and participants
| Characteristics of hospitals | n (%) | |
| German federal states (N=50) | North Rhine-Westphalia | 17 (34) |
| Lower Saxony | 12 (24) | |
| Baden-Württemberg | 6 (12) | |
| Schleswig Holstein | 3 (6) | |
| Thuringia | 3 (6) | |
| Saxony-Anhalt | 2 (4) | |
| Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Saxony, Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate (each federal state) | 1 (2) | |
| Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saarland | 0 (0) | |
| Sponsorship (N=51) | Non-profit organisations | 26 (51) |
| Public institutions | 25 (49) | |
| Planned beds (survey period) (N=50) | ≥600 | 21 (42) |
| 300–599 | 19 (38) | |
| 50–299 | 10 (20) | |
| Inpatient cases/year (survey period) (M=35 716; range=1840–200 000; SD=35 359) (N=44) | 10 000–49 999 | 30 (68) |
| 50 000–99 999 | 8 (18) | |
| <10 000 | 4 (9) | |
| 100 000–150 000 | 1 (2) | |
| >150 000 | 1 (2) | |
| Characteristics of participants | n (%) | |
| Age in years (M=47; range=25–61; SD=10) (N=48) | >45 | 32 (67) |
| 30–45 | 11 (23) | |
| >30 | 5 (10) | |
| Gender (N=48) | Male | 25 (52) |
| Female | 23 (48) | |
| RLS expertise in years (M=7.5; range=0–23; SD=5) (N=50) | <5 | 18 (36) |
| >10 | 16 (32) | |
| 5–10 | 16 (32) | |
| Position (N=51) | Quality and risk manager | 19 (37) |
| Risk manager | 8 (16) | |
| Quality and risk assurance representative | 6 (12) | |
| Quality manager | 5 (10) | |
| Several functions in quality and risk management | 4 (8) | |
| Quality assurance representative | 4 (8) | |
| Risk manager and quality assurance representative | 2 (4) | |
| Quality manager and quality assurance representative | 1 (2) | |
| Others: critical incident reporting district representative | 2 (4) | |
| Professional qualification (N=46) | Healthcare management | 20 (43) |
| Medical assistance personnel | 11 (24) | |
| Physician | 6 (13) | |
| Commercial professional | 6 (13) | |
| Others: physicist, biologist and master of business and engineering | 3 (7) | |
| Advanced positions and competencies based on further education (N=45) | Quality and risk management | 21 (47) |
| Quality management | 10 (22) | |
| Risk management | 8 (18) | |
| Other: medical coding, head of ward, systemic counselling and therapy, specialised nurse practitioner, anaesthesia and critical care practitioner and practice supervisor | 6 (13) | |
M, mean; RLS, reporting and learning system; SD, standard deviation.