Sobrecarga, equivocación, falta de capacitación: factores contribuyentes en errores de medicación en hospital público chileno / Overload, mistake, lack of training: contributing factors in medication errors in a Chilean public hospital

OBJETIVO: Analizar errores de medicación notificados en 2018 en un hospital público de alta complejidad chileno. METODOLOGÍA: Estudio cuantitativo, retrospectivo, descriptivo y correlacional. Se analizaron las variables sexo y edad del paciente, mes del incidente, tipo de error, servicio, etapa del proceso de medicación y factores contribuyentes. RESULTADOS: Los incidentes fueron más frecuentes en meses estivales, en pacientes mayores de 60 años y de sexo femenino. Los errores más notificados fueron dosis, medicamento y paciente incorrecto. En farmacia se registraron el mayor número de notificaciones. Los errores ocurrieron con mayor frecuencia en las etapas de administración y dispensación. Entre los factores contribuyentes destacan chequeo ineficiente, desgaste o sobrecarga laboral, exceso de confianza, falta de capacitación y confusión del paciente. CONCLUSIÓN: Los periodos vacacionales concentran el mayor número de errores de medicación, asociados a la sobrecarga laboral y falta de capacitación de los profesionales de reemplazo, cuya formación debe ser reforzada

OBJECTIVE: To analyze medication errors reported in 2018 in a highly complex Chilean public hospital. METHODOLOGY: Quantitative, retrospective, descriptive and correlational study. The variables sex and age of the patient, month of the incident, type of error, service, stage of the medication process and contributing factors were analyzed. RESULTS: The incidents were more frequent in summer months, in female patients over 60 years of age. The most commonly reported errors were incorrect dose, medication and patient. The highest number of notifications were registered in the pharmacy. Errors occurred more frequently in the administration and dispensing stages. Among the contributing factors are inefficient check-up, attrition or work overload, overconfidence, lack of training, and patient confusion. CONCLUSION: Vacation periods concentrate the highest number of medication errors, associated with work overload and lack of training for replacement professionals, whose training must be reinforced

Combined SNA and LDA methods to understand adverse medical events.

OBJECTIVE: To compare primary medical adverse event keywords from reporters (e.g. physicians and nurses) and harm level perspectives to explore the underlying behaviors of medical adverse events using social network analysis (SNA) and latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) leading to process improvements. DESIGN: Used SNA methods to explore primary keywords used to describe the medical adverse events reported by physicians and nurses. Used LDA methods to investigate topics used for various harm levels. Combined the SNA and LDA methods to discover common shared topic keywords to better understand underlying behaviors of physicians and nurses in different harm level medical adverse events. SETTING: Maccabi Healthcare Community is the second largest healthcare organization in Israel. DATA: 17,868 medical adverse event data records collected between 2000 and 2017. METHODS: Big data analysis techniques using social network analysis (SNA) and latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA). RESULTS: Shared topic keywords used by both physicians and nurses were determined. The study revealed that communication, information transfer, and inattentiveness were the most common problems reported in the medical adverse events data. CONCLUSIONS: Communication and inattentiveness were the most common problems reported in medical adverse events regardless of healthcare professional reporting or harm levels. Findings suggested that an information-sharing and feedback mechanism should be implemented to eliminate preventable medical adverse events. Healthcare institutions managers and government officials should take targeted actions to decrease these preventable medical adverse events through quality improvement efforts.

Avaliação da qualidade da classificação de risco nos serviços de emergência / Evaluation of quality of risk classification in emergency services

Objetivo: Avaliar a estrutura, o processo e o resultado do sistema de triagem Acolhimento com Classificação de Risco implantado em serviços de emergência brasileiros, sob a perspectiva de profissionais de enfermagem. Métodos Pesquisa transversal que incluiu 151 profissionais de enfermagem que responderam ao Instrumento para Avaliação do Acolhimento com Classificação de Risco. Calculou-se o Ranking Médio de cada item e foi verificada a representatividade das dimensões estrutura, processo e resultado. Resultados Apenas a dimensão resultado, de um único serviço de emergência, foi avaliada como Satisfatória. As demais dimensões, de todos os serviços investigados, foram consideradas Precárias. Conclusão Os resultados indicaram melhorias na qualidade do atendimento prestado, com priorização dos casos graves, mas é preciso melhorar o fluxo do sistema de contrarreferência.

Objective: To assess, on the basis of the perspective of nursing professionals, the structure, process, and results of a screening system, Embracement with Risk Classification, integrated in some Brazilian emergency services. Methods This cross-sectional study included 151 nursing professionals who completed the Instrument for Assessment of Embracement with Risk Classification. We measured the mean ranking of each item and representativeness of the structure, process, and result dimension. Results Only the dimension “result” of a single emergency service was evaluated as fair. The remaining dimensions, for all other services investigated, were considered poor. Conclusion Results indicated improvements in the quality of care delivered and prioritization of severe cases. However, improvements in the flow of against-reference system are still needed.

Experience of head and neck theatre staff and attitudes to human factors using an aviation-based analysis and classification system--a pilot survey.

The role that human factors have in contributing to air crashes is well known and is included as an essential part of training. Awareness of human factors in surgery is increasingly being recognised but surprisingly few papers have come from head and neck specialties. We circulated a questionnaire on human factors based on an aviation model to 140 head and neck medical and ancillary staff who work in operating theatres in 3 large UK hospitals. Most positive responses were found in the consultant group followed by trainee doctors and support staff. A significant difference was found in the subcategories of Unsafe Supervision (p=0.002) and Preconditions to Unsafe Acts (p=0.001). This work will help to identify multi-system deficiencies that can be corrected, and highlights aspects that may yield the greatest reduction in surgical errors.

Safety features and alerts in electronic patient medication record systems used in community pharmacy in England: an exploratory study.

Safety features embedded in electronic Patient Medication Record (ePMR) systems alert users about clinical hazards and errors in prescribed medicines during order entry. To date there has been little research about how these systems, their safety features and alerts are used to support practice; and how they are included in work processes in community pharmacies in England, UK. This study aimed to explore stakeholders' views and experiences regarding the safety features and alerts in ePMR systems; and how they might better support pharmacists and their team in practice.

Semi-supervised classification of patient safety event reports.

OBJECTIVES: The Veterans Health Administration patient safety reporting system receives more than 100,000 reports annually. The information contained in these reports is primarily in the form of natural language text. Improving the ability to efficiently mine these patient safety reports for information is the objective of a proposed semi-supervised method. METHODS: A semi-supervised classification method leverages information from both labeled and unlabeled reports to predict categories for the unlabeled reports. RESULTS: Two different scenarios involving a semi-supervised learning process are examined, and both demonstrate good predictive results. CONCLUSIONS: The semi-supervised method shows much promise in assisting researchers and analysts toward accurately and more quickly separating reports of varying and often overlapping topics. The method is able to use the "stories" provided in patient safety reports to extend existing patient safety taxonomies beyond their static design.

A framework for classifying patient safety practices: results from an expert consensus process.

OBJECTIVE: Development of a coherent literature evaluating patient safety practices has been hampered by the lack of an underlying conceptual framework. The authors describe issues and choices in describing and classifying diverse patient safety practices (PSPs). METHODS: The authors developed a framework to classify PSPs by identifying and synthesising existing conceptual frameworks, evaluating the draft framework by asking a group of experts to use it to classify a diverse set of PSPs and revising the framework through an expert-panel consensus process. RESULTS: The 11 classification dimensions in the framework include: regulatory versus voluntary; setting; feasibility; individual activity versus organisational change; temporal (one-time vs repeated/long-term); pervasive versus targeted; common versus rare events; PSP maturity; degree of controversy/conflicting evidence; degree of behavioural change required for implementation; and sensitivity to context. CONCLUSION: This framework offers a way to classify and compare PSPs, and thereby to interpret the patient-safety literature. Further research is needed to develop understanding of these dimensions, how they evolve as the patient safety field matures, and their relative utilities in describing, evaluating and implementing PSPs.

Tailoring "best-of-breed" safety classification for patient fall voluntary reporting.

OBJECTIVE: Voluntary safety event reporting often produces poorly defined data points, which complicate data analyses across health care settings. Such data should be restructured into a standard patient safety language translatable within and outside health care organizations. We designed and implemented a "best-of-breed" patient safety classification for data created by the Duke University Health System Safety Reporting System. METHODS: We report our approach for patient fall classification. Our strategy was to deploy the International Classification for Patient Safety Framework of the World Health Organization augmented with additional data points of interest, thereby allowing for data translatability while maintaining local practices. System interface redesign using the "best-of-breed" fall classification was mindful of workflows and known reporting barriers. Custom aggregate reports were also developed. RESULTS: We estimated the impact of the redesigned portal on Safety Reporting System usage before and after classification through comparisons of fall report volume and report completion time. When normalized as falls per day, the rate of falls only changed slightly, indicating that the enhancement had little effect on reporting desire. Report completion time increased modestly but not significantly from a practical standpoint. The presence of structured data eliminated substantial hours dedicated to manual data management and enabled evaluation of quality improvement interventions within and outside our organization. CONCLUSIONS: Creation and implementation of a "best-of-breed" patient safety classification for voluntary reporting requires multidisciplinary collaboration between clinical experts, frontline clinicians, and functional and technical analysts. Formal usability evaluations of reporting systems are needed to ensure design facilitates effective data collection.

Is the "International Classification for Patient Safety" a classification?

The WHO has developed and is currently testing a classification for patient safety (ICPS). Analyzing the ICPS in the light of classificatory and ontology principles as well as international standards we conclude that its qualification as a classification or taxonomy is misleading. Acknowledging its merits as a standard reporting instrument for change management and process improvements we propose formal improvements.

Towards an International Classification for Patient Safety: the conceptual framework.

Global advances in patient safety have been hampered by the lack of a uniform classification of patient safety concepts. This is a significant barrier to developing strategies to reduce risk, performing evidence-based research and evaluating existing healthcare policies relevant to patient safety. Since 2005, the World Health Organization's World Alliance for Patient Safety has undertaken the Project to Develop an International Classification for Patient Safety (ICPS) to devise a classification which transforms patient safety information collected from disparate systems into a common format to facilitate aggregation, analysis and learning across disciplines, borders and time. A drafting group, comprised of experts from the fields of patient safety, classification theory, health informatics, consumer/patient advocacy, law and medicine, identified and defined key patient safety concepts and developed an internationally agreed conceptual framework for the ICPS based upon existing patient safety classifications. The conceptual framework was iteratively improved through technical expert meetings and a two-stage web-based modified Delphi survey of over 250 international experts. This work culminated in a conceptual framework consisting of ten high level classes: incident type, patient outcomes, patient characteristics, incident characteristics, contributing factors/hazards, organizational outcomes, detection, mitigating factors, ameliorating actions and actions taken to reduce risk. While the framework for the ICPS is in place, several challenges remain. Concepts need to be defined, guidance for using the classification needs to be provided, and further real-world testing needs to occur to progressively refine the ICPS to ensure it is fit for purpose.

Towards an International Classification for Patient Safety: a Delphi survey.

OBJECTIVE: Interpretation and comparison of patient safety information have been compromised by the lack of a common understanding of the concepts involved. The World Alliance set out to develop an International Classification for Patient Safety (ICPS) to address this, and to test the relevance and acceptability of the draft ICPS and progressively refine it prior to field testing. DESIGN: Two-stage Delphi survey. Quantitative and qualitative analyses informed the review of the ICPS. SETTING: International web-based survey of expert opinion. PARTICIPANTS: Experts in the fields of patient safety, health policy, reporting systems, safety and quality control, classification theory and development, health informatics, consumer advocacy, law and medicine; 253 responded to the first round survey, 30% of whom responded to the second round. RESULTS: In the first round, 14% felt that the conceptual framework was missing at least one class, although it was apparent that most respondents were actually referring to concepts they felt should be included within the classes rather than the classes themselves. There was a need for clarification of several components of the classification, particularly its purpose, structure and depth. After revision and feedback, round 2 results were more positive, but further significant changes were made to the conceptual framework and to the major classes in response to concerns about terminology and relationships between classes. CONCLUSIONS: The Delphi approach proved invaluable, as both a consensus-building exercise and consultation process, in engaging stakeholders to support completion of the final draft version of the ICPS. Further refinement will occur.

Towards an International Classification for Patient Safety: key concepts and terms.

BACKGROUND: Understanding the patient safety literature has been compromised by the inconsistent use of language. OBJECTIVE: To identify key concepts of relevance to the International Patient Safety Classification (ICPS) proposed by the World Alliance For Patient Safety of the World Health Organization (WHO), and agree on definitions and preferred terms. METHODS: Six principles were agreed upon-that the concepts and terms should: be applicable across the full spectrum of healthcare; be consistent with concepts from other WHO Classifications; have meanings as close as possible to those in colloquial use; convey the appropriate meanings with respect to patient safety; be brief and clear, without unnecessary or redundant qualifiers; be fit-for-purpose for the ICPS. RESULTS: Definitions and preferred terms were agreed for 48 concepts of relevance to the ICPS; these were described and the relationships between them and the ICPS were outlined. CONCLUSIONS: The consistent use of key concepts, definitions and preferred terms should pave the way for better understanding, for comparisons between facilities and jurisdictions, and for trends to be tracked over time. Changes and improvements, translation into other languages and alignment with other sets of patient safety definitions will be necessary. This work represents the start of an ongoing process of progressively improving a common international understanding of terms and concepts relevant to patient safety.

Analytical HFACS for investigating human errors in shipping accidents.

Despite the innovative trends in marine technology and the implementation of safety-related regulations, shipping accidents are still a leading concern for global maritime interests. Ensuring the consistency of shipping accident investigation reports is recognized as a significant goal in order to clearly identify the root causes of these accidents. Hence, the goal of this paper is to generate an analytical Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS), based on a Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP), in order to identify the role of human errors in shipping accidents. Integration of FAHP improves the HFACS framework by providing an analytical foundation and group decision-making ability in order to ensure quantitative assessment of shipping accidents.

Confidential reporting of patient safety events in primary care: results from a multilevel classification of cognitive and system factors.

OBJECTIVE: To classify events of actual or potential harm to primary care patients using a multilevel taxonomy of cognitive and system factors. METHODS: Observational study of patient safety events obtained via a confidential but not anonymous reporting system. Reports were followed up with interviews where necessary. Events were analysed for their causes and contributing factors using causal trees and were classified using the taxonomy. Five general medical practices in the West Midlands were selected to represent a range of sizes and types of patient population. All practice staff were invited to report patient safety events. Main outcome measures were frequencies of clinical types of events reported, cognitive types of error, types of detection and contributing factors; and relationship between types of error, practice size, patient consequences and detection. RESULTS: 78 reports were relevant to patient safety and analysable. They included 21 (27%) adverse events and 50 (64%) near misses. 16.7% (13/71) had serious patient consequences, including one death. 75.7% (59/78) had the potential for serious patient harm. Most reports referred to administrative errors (25.6%, 20/78). 60% (47/78) of the reports contained sufficient information to characterise cognition: "situation assessment and response selection" was involved in 45% (21/47) of these reports and was often linked to serious potential consequences. The most frequent contributing factor was work organisation, identified in 71 events. This included excessive task demands (47%, 37/71) and fragmentation (28%, 22/71). CONCLUSIONS: Even though most reported events were near misses, events with serious patient consequences were also reported. Failures in situation assessment and response selection, a cognitive activity that occurs in both clinical and administrative tasks, was related to serious potential harm.

From cognition to the system: developing a multilevel taxonomy of patient safety in general practice.

The paper describes the process of developing a taxonomy of patient safety in general practice. The methodologies employed included fieldwork, task analysis and confidential reporting of patient-safety events in five West Midlands practices. Reported events were traced back to their root causes and contributing factors. The resulting taxonomy is based on a theoretical model of human cognition, includes multiple levels of classification to reflect the chain of causation and considers affective and physiological influences on performance. Events are classified at three levels. At level one, the information-processing model of cognition is used to classify errors. At level two, immediate causes are identified, internal and external to the individual. At level three, more remote causal factors are classified as either 'work organization' or 'technical' with subcategories. The properties of the taxonomy (validity, reliability, comprehensiveness) as well as its usability and acceptability remain to be tested with potential users.