Unsuccessful Efforts Made to Increase Patient Safety

A recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine revealed that the rate of patient harm resulting from medical care has remain unchanged between 2002 to 2007 in spite of efforts made to rectify this.

In 1999, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reported that medical errors caused up to 98,000 deaths and in excess of one million injuries each year in the US. Measures taken to combat this have included implementing computerized provider order-entry systems, evidence-based care bundles, and reducing work shifts. As it remained unknown whether these transformations in procedures had been successful in relation to improvements in patient safety, the study - published November 25 - sought to establish whether these changes had succeeded in reducing patient harms.

In order to assess this, ten hospitals in North Carolina were chosen for review. North Carolina was identified as the most likely region to have achieved improvements in implementing such systems as hospitals here have shown a high level of commitment toward improving patient safety. Efforts included a high degree of hospital enrolment (96 percent) in a national improvement campaign, and extensive participation in statewide safety training programs.

A total of 100 admissions per quarter from January 2002 to December 2007 were reviewed across the 10 hospitals, and analysis of preventable ‘harms' was conducted on the basis of 588 harms that had been identified. Among these, 364 were rated as preventable. These included 13 that caused permanent harm, 35 which were life threatening, and in nine cases these harms contributed to the death of a patient.

As North Carolina has been a leader in efforts to improve patient safety, the study states that the results are most likely indicative of a nationwide trend.

However, results were not entirely negative. "Although the absence of large-scale improvement is a cause for concern, it is not evidence that current efforts to improve safety are futile. On the contrary, data have shown that focused efforts to reduce discrete harms, such as nosocomial infections and surgical complications, can significantly improve safety," the study states.

It concludes that further research is needed focusing on resources, regulation, and improvement initiatives in order to successfully reduce patient harms in the future.

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