Reporting of Medical Errors
Reporting errors is fundamental to error prevention; however, this continues to
be a major topic and concern in the healthcare industry. Medical errors either
do or do not harm patients, reflect numerous problems in the system such as
culture, safety, or even unfavorable working conditions. The three main types
of reporting systems are mandatory, nonconfidential; mandatory, confidential;
and voluntary. The ramifications of errors which cause patient harm can
provide critical information which can lead to new or modified policies and
procedures.
There are ethical implications of reporting and disclosure amongst health care
providers. The most common is feeling devastated and embarrassed by their
mistakes and this making an attempt to conceal or shift blame to someone else.
Providers can benefit by accepting the responsibility of the medical errors,
reporting, and discussing errors with colleagues, and even disclosing errors to
patients. A major concern with self-reporting is the result of repercussions and
fearful of disciplinary actions.
Besides verbal or paper-based reports, there are also automated reports from
the Electronic Medical Record (EMR). However, these reports are dependent
upon the design of the system, how and what information is being collected,
and who is reviewing or interpreting the information being gathered. The
purpose of these reports is to show data that is unbiased, accurate, and helps
paint a picture of how the hospital is performing.
Leadership Responsibility
There are multiple initiatives that Healthcare leadership can take to address
inaccurate reporting amongst staff. First, develop a culture that doesn’t revolve
around blame, or repercussions, but instead focuses on patient care, and using
these medical errors to improve the entire hospital. Second, leadership needs
to ensure that automated reports include the correct information and do not
manipulate the data with the intent to hide medical errors. States require
reports with the goal of ensuring all hospital have the proper medical care and
are also required to achieve federal funding. Third, establish a committee to
review and update policies and procedures so all staff are aware of the
expectations regarding the reporting of medical errors and the process of
properly reporting (Wolf, 2008). For example, Children’s Hospital of Orange
County (CHOC) emphasizes the six “Domains of Quality” as defined by the
Institute of Medicine. These include safe, effective, patient-centered, timely,
efficient, and equitable (choc.org). The goal is to prevent harmful events from
occurring and being proactive with both safety and learning from medical
errors.
References
Quality. Children's Health Orange County. (2021, April 7). Retrieved January 11, 2022,
from https://www.choc.org/quality/(
Wolf, Z. R. (2008, April).(Error reporting and disclosure. Patient Safety and Quality: An
Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. Retrieved January 11, 2022, from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2652/(
