Background: Delays in patient transitions of care are complex and, therefore, a reductionist model of improvement is not likely to produce sustainable results. Exploration of the culture-performance link in the organization has the potential to guide improvement methods aimed at complex, non-linear processes.

Methods: An exploratory, descriptive correlational study was conducted employing the administration of the Hospital Culture of Transitions in Patient Care survey to a cross sectional convenience sample.

Results: Sixty-three participants responded to the survey. In assigning a grade to transitions in the organization, 35% of participants selected a grade of “A” with 33.3% “B”, 23.3% “C”, and 8.3% “D”. In the descriptive analysis, the most favorable responses related to the Hospital Leadership and the Unit Leadership domains. The least favorable responses revealed a perception of staff delaying transfers in both the “My Unit Culture” (49.1%) and the “Other Units’ Culture” (29.8%) domains. The correlational analysis of the domains of the survey found the Hospital Leadership domain correlating significantly (p < .001) with five of the other six domains.

Discussion: The 65% of participants selecting grades of “B”, “C”, and “D” for organizational performance in transitions of patient care is indicative of improvement needed. The insights developed from the responses to the survey suggest it as a very relevant diagnostic tool for hospital leadership seeking to improve performance. The significant correlations of the hospital leadership domain with other domains are powerful indicators of the leveraging potential of leadership at the study site.