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Differences between serious and nonserious patient safety incidents in the largest hospital district in Finland
Author(s) -
Jämsä Juho Olavi,
Palojoki Sari Hannele,
Lehtonen Lasse,
Tapper AnnaMaija
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of healthcare risk management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.221
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 2040-0861
pISSN - 1074-4797
DOI - 10.1002/jhrm.21310
Subject(s) - patient safety , medical emergency , medicine , root cause analysis , incident report , occupational safety and health , safety equipment , injury prevention , root cause , emergency medicine , poison control , health care , computer security , forensic engineering , operations management , engineering , computer science , pathology , economics , economic growth
Objectives To determine if and in what ways serious patient safety incidents differ from nonserious patient safety incidents. Methods Statistical analysis was performed on patient safety incident reports that were reported in 2015 in Finland's largest hospital district (Helsinki and Uusimaa, HUS). Reports were divided into two groups: nonserious incidents and serious incidents. Differences between groups were studied from several types of categorically divided information. Results Of the total number of reports (15,863), 1% were serious incidents (175). Serious and nonserious incidents differed significantly from each other. Serious incidents concerning laboratory, imaging, or medical equipment were more common. On the other hand, incidents concerning medication, infusion, and blood transfusion were less frequent. In serious incidents, the proportion of doctors reporting was greater, and contributing factors were better recognized, the most common being working of procedures. Conclusions In the future, special attention should be given to the particular aspects of serious patient safety incidents, such as safe use of medical equipment, training, and handling of procedures. Root cause analysis is an effective way to handle serious incidents and enables the prevention of their reoccurrence. However, a systematic follow‐up of the root cause analysis should be developed.