Perceptions of preventable medical errors in Alberta, Canada.

OBJECTIVE: (i) To compare public perceptions of the frequency, responsibility, causes and solutions for preventable medical errors for persons who report and do not report having experienced a preventable medical error while receiving healthcare services in Alberta, Canada. (ii) To describe public opinion about confidentiality and disclosure of preventable medical error. (iii) To examine the relationship between reporting preventable medical error and perceived quality of the healthcare system. METHODS: Population-based telephone survey. Households selected by random digit dialing and individual in household selected by most recent birthday. Province of Alberta, Canada. Representative sample of adult Albertans (N = 1500). Public perceptions of the frequency, responsibility, causes and solutions for preventable medical error; opinions about confidentiality and disclosure; perceived quality of the healthcare system. RESULTS: Five hundred and fifty-nine (37.3%; 95% CI 34.8-39.8%) of 1500 respondents reported that they or a family member had ever experienced a preventable medical error while receiving health care in Alberta, Canada. Respondents who reported a preventable medical error were more likely to believe that preventable medical errors occur with greater frequency, were less likely to think that their doctor would tell them if a preventable medical error was made in their care, and tended to rate the quality of the healthcare system less favourably. CONCLUSION: This paper provides healthcare managers and policymakers with insight into the public's perceptions of preventable medical error and may facilitate the development of strategies to improve patient safety, public confidence and public satisfaction with the healthcare system.     

Strategies to decrease medication errors

Medication errors present a significant hazard to patient safety and have been increasingly in the news as studies correlate the nursing shortage and patient death. This article discusses strategies to decrease medication errors and increase patient safety during medication administration.     

The challenges to transparency in reporting medical errors

In an ideal health care environment, physicians and health care organizations would acknowledge and factually report all medical errors and "near misses" in an effort to improve future patient safety by better identifying systemic safety lapses. Truth must permeate the health care system to achieve the goal of transparency. The Institute of Medicine has estimated that 44,000 to 98,000 patients die each year as a result of medical errors. Improving the reporting of medical errors and near misses is essential for better prevention of medical errors and thus increasing patient safety. Higher rates of reporting can permit identification of the root causes of errors and create improved processes that can significantly reduce errors in future patient care. Multiple barriers exist with respect to reporting medical errors, despite the ethical and various professional, regulatory, and legislative expectations and requirements generating this obligation. As long as physicians perceive that they are at risk for sanctions, malpractice claims, and unpredictable compensation of injured patients as determined by the United States' tort law system, legislative or regulative reform is unlikely to affect the underreporting of medical errors, and patient safety cannot benefit from the lessons derived from past medical errors and near misses. A new infrastructure for creating patient safety systems, as identified in the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 is needed. A patient compensation system guided by an administrative health court that includes some form of no-fault insurance must be studied to identify benefits and risks. Most urgent is the development of a reporting system for medical errors and near misses that is transparent and effectively recognizes the legitimate concerns of physicians and health care providers and improves patient safety.     

卫生装备采购工作对商业“陷井”的防范

医疗卫生装备采购工作是医院管理的重要一环，必须对各种商业陷井加以识别和防范。本文主要对资信陷井、价格陷井和质量陷井、承诺陷井、“人情”陷井等加以论述，探讨对它们的识别技巧和防范措施。     

USB在便携式医学仪器中的应用

根据医学模式发展的需要，本文主要从便携式智能医学仪器的角度出发，对USB接口技术的发展、特点、现代医学仪器的发展现状及USB在便携式医学仪器的应用前景等进行综述。