Medical error

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Medical errors are mistakes that are made in a medical setting. Errors are made by every type of health care worker, and in every hospital and health care facility. In 2001, the U.S. Institute of Medicine estimated that, every year, 44,000–98,000 deaths in the USA were related to medical errors. [1]

When an error occurs, the key question becomes, will it be recognized and corrected? Errors that eventually result in injury are typically compounded by subsequent errors of not recognizing that an error has occurred, and not taking remedial action.

Malpractice

If an error involves negligence and results in damage, as those terms are legally defined, it may be treated as medical malpractice and result in substantial liability. The possibility of legal liability can be a barrier to free discussion and disclosure of medical error, hampering efforts to reduce error. Thus, provisions for confidential reporting of errors can be useful.

Causes

In medical trainees, contributing factors include errors in judgment and breakdowns in teamwork (including supervision).[2]

Prevention

Lessons from aviation

Plane crashes can be dramatic events, causing considerable loss of life and attracting wide publicity damaging to the reputation of the airlines involved, and weakening passenger confidence in air travel. Accordingly, all plane crashes and related serious incidents ("near misses") are exhaustively investigated in an effort to establish their precise causes. By comparison, most medical errors do not have the same wide impact, thus they seldom receive such intense scrutiny and analysis. [3]

An adapted version of a "pilot's checklist" (designed to ensure that safety procedures are rigorously followed when preparing for take-off and landing) has been tested for usefulness in preparation for performing Cesarean delivery under general anesthesia. [4]

Personnel factors

Reduction of duty hours

A survey of 200 residents who trained both before and after duty hours reform reported improved quality of life. However, "Residents reported that whereas fatigue-related errors decreased slightly, errors related to reduced continuity of care significantly increased." [5]

Oversight of professional conduct

Organizations promoting error reduction

Institute for Healthcare Improvement

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) defines medical harm as "unintended physical injury resulting from or contributed to by medical care (including the absence of indicated medical treatment) that requires additional monitoring, treatment or hospitalization, or results in death." Previously, IHI initiated the 100,000 Lives Campaign. That campaign, participated in by 3,200 hospitals, is estimated to have reduced deaths of patients in hospitals by 122,000 in 18 months. The campaign focused on six "interventions" which had been identified as likely to reduce medical error:

IHI's second campaign, the 5 Million Lives Campaign, [8] challenges 4,000 hospitals to adopt at least one of twelve interventions: the six original interventions and six more. [9] The goal is encourage hospitals to improve their procedure enough to eliminate five million incidents of medical harm during a 24-month period, ending Dec. 9, 2008. [10]

The Patient Advocate

Reduction of medical error can be effected on the patient side as well as on the side of the care giver, but only with vigilance on the part of the patient him or herself, or on the part of the patient's advocate.

The physician's perspective

Case reports review the strongly negative emotional impact of mistakes on the doctors who commit them.[11][12][13][14]

Coping mechanisms

Essays[15] and studies[16][17] have described physician coping mechanisms.

Recognizing that mistakes are not isolated events

Some doctors recognize that adverse outcomes from errors usually do not happen because of an isolated errors and actually reflect system problems.[18] There may be several breakdowns in processes to allow one adverse outcome. [19] In addition, errors are more common when other demands compete for a physician's attention.[20][21][22] However, placing too much blame on the system may not be constructive.[18]

Placing the practice of medicine in perspective

Essayists imply that the potential to make mistakes is part of what makes being a physician rewarding and without this potential the the rewards of medical practice would be less:

  • "Everybody dies, you and all of your patients. All relationships end. Would you want it any other way?...Don't take it personally"[23]
  • "... if I left medicine, I would mourn its loss as I've mourned the passage of my poetry. On a daily basis, it is both a privilege and a joy to have the trust of patients and their families and the camaraderie of peers. There is no challenge to make your blood race like that of a difficult case, no mind game as rigorous as the challenging differential diagnosis, and though the stakes are high, so are the rewards."[24]

Disclosing mistakes

Forgiveness, which is a part of many religions, may be important in coping with medical mistakes.[25]

Disclosure to oneself

Inability to forgive oneself may create a cycle of distress and increased likelihood of a future error.[26]

However, "...those who coped by accepting responsibility were more likely to make constructive changes in practice, but to experience more emotional distress."[27] It may be helpful to consider the much larger number of patients who are not exposed to mistakes and are helped by medical care.[24]

Disclosure to patients

Patients are reported to want "information about what happened, why the error happened, how the error's consequences will be mitigated, and how recurrences will be prevented."[28] Detailed suggestions on how to disclose are available.[29]

The American Medical Association's Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs states in its ethics code:

"Situations occasionally occur in which a patient suffers significant medical complications that may have resulted from the physician's mistake or judgment. In these situations, the physician is ethically required to inform the patient of all facts necessary to ensure understanding of what has occurred. Concern regarding legal liability which might result following truthful disclosure should not affect the physician's honesty with a patient."

From the American College of Physicians Ethics Manual[30]:

“In addition, physicians should disclose to patients information about procedural or judgment errors made in the course of care if such information is material to the patient's well-being. Errors do not necessarily constitute improper, negligent, or unethical behavior, but failure to disclose them may.”

However, "there appears to be a gap between physicians' attitudes and practices regarding error disclosure. Willingness to disclose errors was associated with higher training level and a variety of patient-centered attitudes, and it was not lessened by previous exposure to malpractice litigation".[31] Hospital administrators may share these concerns.[32]

Consequently, in the United States, many states have enacted laws excluding expressions of sympathy after accidents as proof of liability; however, "excluding from admissibility in court proceedings apologetic expressions of sympathy but not fault-admitting apologies after accidents"[33]

Disclosure may actually reduce malpractice payments.[34][35]

Disclosure to non-physicians

In a study of physicians who reported having made a mistake, disclosing to non-physicians sources of support may reduce stress more than disclosing to physician colleagues[17]. This may be due to the physicians in the same study, when presented with a hypothetical scenario of a mistake made by another colleague, only 32% physicians would have unconditionally offered support. It is possible that greater benefit occurs when spouses are physicians[36].

Disclosure to other physicians

Discussing mistakes with other doctors is beneficial.[18] However, doctors may be less forgiving of each other.[36] The reason is not clear, but one essayist has admonished, "Don't Take Too Much Joy in the Mistakes of Other Doctors."[37]

Disclosure to the physician's institution

Disclosure of errors, especially 'near misses' may be able to reduce subsequent errors in institutions that are capable of reviewing near misses.[38] However, doctors report that institutions may not be supportive of the doctor.[18]


References

  1. ↑ Page 1, To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System, Janet Corrigan, Molla S. Donaldson, and Linda T. Kohn, editors, National Academy Press (April, 2000), 287 pages, ISBN 0309-06837-1
  2. ↑ Singh H, Thomas EJ, Petersen LA, Studdert DM (2007). "Medical errors involving trainees: a study of closed malpractice claims from 5 insurers". Arch. Intern. Med. 167 (19): 2030–6. DOI:10.1001/archinte.167.19.2030. PMID 17954795. Research Blogging.
  3. ↑ Robert L Helmreich RL (2000) On error management: lessons from aviation. BMJ320:781-5
  4. ↑ Hart EM, Owen H (2005) Errors and omissions in anesthesia: a pilot study using a pilot's checklist. Anesthesia & Analgesia 101:246-50 PMID 15976240
  5. ↑ Myers JS et al. (2006)Internal medicine and general surgery residents' attitudes about the ACGME duty hours regulations: a multicenter study, Academic Medicine 81:1052-8, PMID 17122468
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 “Status Quon’t”, IHI’s 2007 Progress Report (PDF file)
  7. ↑ "Nosocomial Infection: Approach to Postoperative Symptoms of Infection", From ACS Surgery Online, Posted 06/07/2006, E. Patchen Dellinger, M.D., F.A.C.S.
  8. ↑ 5 Million Lives Campaign
  9. ↑ "Overview of the 5 Million Lives Campaign"
  10. ↑ "IHI Launches National Initiative to Reduce Medical Harm in U.S. Hospitals, Builds on 100,000 Lives Campaign" Infection Control Today, December 12, 2006
  11. ↑ Hilfiker D (1984). "Facing our mistakes". N. Engl. J. Med. 310 (2): 118-22. PMID 6690918. [e]
  12. ↑ Christensen JF, Levinson W, Dunn PM (1992). "The heart of darkness: the impact of perceived mistakes on physicians". Journal of general internal medicine : official journal of the Society for Research and Education in Primary Care Internal Medicine 7 (4): 424-31. PMID 1506949. [e]
  13. ↑ Wu AW (2000). "Medical error: the second victim. The doctor who makes the mistake needs help too". BMJ 320 (7237): 726-7. PMID 10720336. [e]
  14. ↑ Waterman AD, Garbutt J, Hazel E, Dunagan WC, Levinson W, Fraser VJ, Gallagher TH. (2007). "The Emotional Impact of Medical Errors on Practicing Physicians in the United States and Canada". Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety 33: 467-476. PMID 6690918. [e]
  15. ↑ Oscar London (1987). “Rule 13: When You Make a Mistake So Horrible It is to Die Over, Don't”, Kill as few patients as possible: and fifty-six other essays on how to be the world's best doctor. Berkeley, Calif: Ten Speed Press, 23-24. ISBN 0-89815-197-X. 
  16. ↑ Quill TE, Williamson PR. Healthy approaches to physician stress. Arch Intern Med. 1990;150:1857-61. PMID 2393317
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Newman MC (1996). "The emotional impact of mistakes on family physicians". Archives of family medicine 5 (2): 71-5. PMID 8601210. [e]
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 Wu AW, Folkman S, McPhee SJ, Lo B (1991). "Do house officers learn from their mistakes?". JAMA 265 (16): 2089-94. PMID 2013929. [e]
  19. ↑ Gandhi TK, Kachalia A, Thomas EJ, et al (2006). "Missed and delayed diagnoses in the ambulatory setting: a study of closed malpractice claims". Ann. Intern. Med. 145 (7): 488-96. PMID 17015866. [e]
  20. ↑ Redelmeier DA, Tan SH, Booth GL (1998). "The treatment of unrelated disorders in patients with chronic medical diseases". N. Engl. J. Med. 338 (21): 1516-20. PMID 9593791. [e]
  21. ↑ Lurie N, Rank B, Parenti C, Woolley T, Snoke W (1989). "How do house officers spend their nights? A time study of internal medicine house staff on call". N. Engl. J. Med. 320 (25): 1673-7. PMID 2725617. [e]
  22. ↑ Lyle CB, Applegate WB, Citron DS, Williams OD (1976). "Practice habits in a group of eight internists". Ann. Intern. Med. 84 (5): 594-601. PMID 1275366. [e]
  23. ↑ Thomas Laurence, (2004). “What Do You Want?”, Extreme Clinic -- An Outpatient Doctor's Guide to the Perfect 7 Minute Visit. Philadelphia: Hanley & Belfus, 120. ISBN 1-56053-603-9. 
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Seder D (2006). "Of poems and patients". Ann. Intern. Med. 144 (2): 142. PMID 16418416. [e]
  25. ↑ Berlinger N, Wu A (2005). "Subtracting insult from injury: addressing cultural expectations in the disclosure of medical error". J Med Ethics 31 (2): 106-8. PMID 15681676.
  26. ↑ West CP, Huschka MM, Novotny PJ, et al (2006). "Association of perceived medical errors with resident distress and empathy: a prospective longitudinal study". JAMA 296 (9): 1071-8. DOI:10.1001/jama.296.9.1071. PMID 16954486. Research Blogging.
  27. ↑ Wu AW, Folkman S, McPhee SJ, Lo B (1993). "How house officers cope with their mistakes". West. J. Med. 159 (5): 565-9. PMID 8279153. [e]
  28. ↑ Gallagher TH, Waterman AD, Ebers AG, Fraser VJ, Levinson W (2003). "Patients' and physicians' attitudes regarding the disclosure of medical errors". JAMA 289 (8): 1001-7. PMID 12597752. [e]
  29. ↑ Wu AW, Cavanaugh TA, McPhee SJ, Lo B, Micco GP (1997). "To tell the truth: ethical and practical issues in disclosing medical mistakes to patients". Journal of general internal medicine : official journal of the Society for Research and Education in Primary Care Internal Medicine 12 (12): 770-5. DOI:10.1046/j.1525-1497.1997.07163.x. PMID 9436897. Research Blogging.
  30. ↑ Snyder L, Leffler C (2005). "Ethics manual: fifth edition". Ann Intern Med 142 (7): 560-82. PMID 15809467.
  31. ↑ Kaldjian LC, Jones EW, Wu BJ, Forman-Hoffman VL, Levi BH, Rosenthal GE (2007). "Disclosing medical errors to patients: attitudes and practices of physicians and trainees". Journal of general internal medicine : official journal of the Society for Research and Education in Primary Care Internal Medicine 22 (7): 988-96. DOI:10.1007/s11606-007-0227-z. PMID 17473944. Research Blogging.
  32. ↑ Weissman JS, Annas CL, Epstein AM, et al (2005). "Error reporting and disclosure systems: views from hospital leaders". JAMA 293 (11): 1359-66. DOI:10.1001/jama.293.11.1359. PMID 15769969. Research Blogging.
  33. ↑ SorryWorks.net. Retrieved on 2007-08-16.
  34. ↑ Wu AW (1999). "Handling hospital errors: is disclosure the best defense?". Ann. Intern. Med. 131 (12): 970-2. PMID 10610651. [e]
  35. ↑ Zimmerman R. Doctors' New Tool To Fight Lawsuits: Saying 'I'm Sorry', Dow Jones & Company, Inc, May 18,2004. Retrieved on 2007-08-16.
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 Sobecks NW, Justice AC, Hinze S, et al (1999). "When doctors marry doctors: a survey exploring the professional and family lives of young physicians". Ann. Intern. Med. 130 (4 Pt 1): 312-9. PMID 10068390. [e]
  37. ↑ Oscar London (1987). “Rule 35: Don't Take Too Much Joy in the Mistakes of Other Doctors”, Kill as few patients as possible: and fifty-six other essays on how to be the world's best doctor. Berkeley, Calif: Ten Speed Press. ISBN 0-89815-197-X. 
  38. ↑ Barach P, Small SD (2000). "Reporting and preventing medical mishaps: lessons from non-medical near miss reporting systems". BMJ 320 (7237): 759-63. PMID 10720361. [e]

Further Reading

Michael Edmonds, Health Informatics, The University of Adelaide, Last Modified Wednesday, 28-Jun-2006 11:32:06 CST, retrieved February 12, 2007


External links

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