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AHRQ Research Studies
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Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
Results
1 to 25 of 412 Research Studies DisplayedAuerbach AD, Lee TM, Hubbard CC
Diagnostic errors in hospitalized adults who died or were transferred to intensive care.
The objective of this retrospective cohort study was to determine the prevalence, underlying causes, and harms of diagnostic errors in hospitalized adults who were transferred to an intensive care unit or who died. Data was taken from 29 academic medical centers in the U.S. in a random sample of adults hospitalized with general medical conditions. Errors were found to have contributed to temporary harm, permanent harm, or death in nearly 18% of patients; among patients who died, diagnostic error was judged to have contributed to death in 6.6% of cases. The researchers noted that problems with choosing and interpreting tests and the processes involved with clinician assessment were a high priority for improvement efforts.
AHRQ-funded; HS027369.
Citation: Auerbach AD, Lee TM, Hubbard CC .
Diagnostic errors in hospitalized adults who died or were transferred to intensive care.
JAMA Intern Med 2024 Feb; 184(2):164-73. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.7347..
Keywords: Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Medical Errors, Hospitals, Inpatient Care, Quality of Care, Patient Safety, Adverse Events
Dalal AK, Schnipper JL, Raffel K
Identifying and classifying diagnostic errors in acute care across hospitals: early lessons from the Utility of Predictive Systems in Diagnostic Errors (UPSIDE) study.
This paper describes the Utility of Predictive Systems in Diagnostic Errors (UPSIDE) study, whose aim was to define the prevalence and underlying causes of diagnostic errors (DEs) in patients who die in the hospital or are transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) after the first 48 hours. This study was conducted at 31 hospitals with more than 2500 cases reviewed using electronic health records. The authors identified some insights into key requirements into building a robust DE surveillance program by developing these steps: 1) Develop a shared understanding of what constitutes a diagnostic error; 2) Use validated tools to identify diagnostic errors and classify process failures, but respect your context; 3) Develop a standard approach to using electronic health records for case reviews; 4) Ensure reliability and consistency of the case review process; and 5) Link diagnostic error case reviews to institutional safety programs. They also developed steps to establish a diagnosis error review process at the hospital level with six processes.
AHRQ-funded; HS027369; HS026613.
Citation: Dalal AK, Schnipper JL, Raffel K .
Identifying and classifying diagnostic errors in acute care across hospitals: early lessons from the Utility of Predictive Systems in Diagnostic Errors (UPSIDE) study.
J Hosp Med 2024 Feb; 19(2):140-45. doi: 10.1002/jhm.13136..
Keywords: Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Medical Errors, Adverse Events, Patient Safety, Quality of Care, Hospitals
Newman-Toker DE, Nassery N, Schaffer AC
Burden of serious harms from diagnostic error in the USA.
Americans who experience serious harm from misdiagnosis annually. Serious harm is defined as permanent morbidity or morality. This cross-sectional analysis used nationally representative observational data. The authors estimated annual incident vascular events and infections from 21.5 million (M) sampled US hospital discharges (2012-2014). US-based cancer registries were used to find annual new cancers. They derived diagnostic errors and serious harms by multiplying by literature-based rates for disease-specific incidences for 15 major vascular events, infections and cancers ('Big Three' categories). Extrapolating to all diseases (including non-'Big Three' dangerous disease categories), they estimated total serious harms annually in the USA to be 795,000 (plausible range 598,000-1,023,000). Using more conservative assumptions they estimated 549,000 serious harms. These results were compatible with setting-specific serious harm estimates from inpatient, emergency department and ambulatory care. Fifteen dangerous diseases accounted for 50.7% of total serious harms and the top 5 (stroke, sepsis, pneumonia, venous thromboembolism and lung cancer) accounted for 38.7%.
AHRQ-funded; HS027614; HS029350.
Citation: Newman-Toker DE, Nassery N, Schaffer AC .
Burden of serious harms from diagnostic error in the USA.
BMJ Qual Saf 2024 Jan 19; 33(2):109-20. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2021-014130..
Keywords: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Medical Errors, Patient Safety, Quality of Care, Adverse Events
Cohen TN, Berdahl CT, Coleman BL
Medication safety event reporting: Factors that contribute to safety events during times of organizational stress.
This study’s objective was to understand the insights conveyed in hospital incident reports about how work system factors affected medication safety during a coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) surge. The authors randomly selected 100 medication safety incident reports from an academic medical center (December 2020 to January 2021), identified near misses and errors, and classified contributing work system factors using the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System-Healthcare. Results showed that among 35 near misses/errors, incident reports described contributing factors (mean 1.3/report) involving skill-based errors (n = 20), communication (n = 8), and tools/technology (n = 4). Seven of these events were linked to COVID-19.
AHRQ-funded; HS027455.
Citation: Cohen TN, Berdahl CT, Coleman BL .
Medication safety event reporting: Factors that contribute to safety events during times of organizational stress.
J Nurs Care Qual 2024 Jan-Mar; 39(1):51-57. doi: 10.1097/ncq.0000000000000720..
Keywords: Medication: Safety, Medication, Patient Safety, COVID-19, Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Medical Errors
Kaufman BG, Holland DE, Vanderboom CE
Multicomponent pharmacist intervention did not reduce clinically important medication errors for ambulatory patients initiating direct oral anticoagulants.
The aim of this randomized controlled trial study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a multicomponent intervention for decreasing clinically important medication errors (CIMEs). The researchers included ambulatory patients beginning a DOAC or resuming one after a complication. The intervention included pharmacist evaluation and monitoring based on the implementation of a recently published checklist. The primary measure was anticoagulant-related CIMEs and non-anticoagulant-related CIMEs over 90 days from DOAC initiation. Primary variables included evaluation of the appropriateness of DOAC, need for DOAC affordability assistance, three pharmacist-initiated telephone consultations, access to a DOAC hotline, documented hand-off to the patient's continuity provider, and monitoring of follow-up laboratory tests. A total of 561 patients contributed 479 anticoagulant-CIMEs including 31 preventable and ameliorable ADEs and 448 significant anticoagulant medication errors without subsequent documented ADEs. The most common anticoagulant-related CIMEs were failure to perform required blood tests and concurrent, inappropriate usage of a DOAC with aspirin or NSAIDs despite pharmacist documentation systematically identifying these issues when present. There was no reduction in anticoagulant-related CIMEs among intervention patients or non-anticoagulant-related CIMEs.
AHRQ-funded; HS02592401.
Citation: Kaufman BG, Holland DE, Vanderboom CE .
Multicomponent pharmacist intervention did not reduce clinically important medication errors for ambulatory patients initiating direct oral anticoagulants.
J Gen Intern Med 2023 Dec; 38(16):3526-34. doi: 10.1007/s11606-023-08315-z..
Keywords: Provider: Pharmacist, Medication, Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Medical Errors, Blood Thinners, Medication: Safety, Patient Safety
Boxley C, Fujimoto M, Ratwani RM
A text mining approach to categorize patient safety event reports by medication error type.
This study examined whether natural language processing can be used to better categorize medication related patient safety event reports. A total of 3,861 medication related patient safety event reports that were previously annotated using a consolidated medication error taxonomy were used to develop three models using the following algorithms: (1) logistic regression, (2) elastic net, and (3) XGBoost. The models were tested and performance was analyzed. The authors found the XGBoost model performed best across all medication error categories. 'Wrong Drug', 'Wrong Dosage Form or Technique or Route', and 'Improper Dose/Dose Omission' categories performed best across the three models. In addition, they identified five words most closely associated with each medication error category and which medication error categories were most likely to co-occur.
AHRQ-funded; HS026481.
Citation: Boxley C, Fujimoto M, Ratwani RM .
A text mining approach to categorize patient safety event reports by medication error type.
Sci Rep 2023 Oct 26; 13(1):18354. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-45152-w..
Keywords: Health Information Technology (HIT), Patient Safety, Medication, Medication: Safety, Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events
Berdahl CT, Henreid AJ, Cohen TN
Comparing the Safety Action Feedback and Engagement (SAFE) Loop with an established incident reporting system: Study protocol for a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial.
This paper describes the study protocol that will be used for a randomized controlled trial of the Safety Action Feedback and Engagement (SAFE) Loop, an intervention designed to transform hospital incident reporting systems into effective tools for improving patient safety. There are six key attributes to the SAFE Loop: obtaining nurses' input about which safety problems to prioritize on their unit; focusing on learning about selected high-priority events; training nurses to write more informative event reports; prompting nurses to report high-priority events; integrating information about events from multiple sources; and providing feedback to nurses on findings and mitigation plans. The study will be conducted at 20 randomized nursing units at a large academic/community hospital in Los Angeles and will focus on medication errors. The investigators will look for the following outcomes: (1) incident reporting practices (rates of high-priority reports, contributing factors described in reports), (2) nurses' attitudes toward incident reporting, and (3) rates of high-priority events. They will use quantitative analysis to compare changes in outcomes pre- and post-implementation between the intervention and control nursing units, and qualitative analyses to explore nurses' experiences with implementation.
AHRQ-funded; HS027455.
Citation: Berdahl CT, Henreid AJ, Cohen TN .
Comparing the Safety Action Feedback and Engagement (SAFE) Loop with an established incident reporting system: Study protocol for a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial.
Contemp Clin Trials Commun 2023 Oct; 35:101192. doi: 10.1016/j.conctc.2023.101192..
Keywords: Patient Safety, Adverse Events, Medical Errors
Gómez-Lumbreras A, Boyce RD, Villa-Zapata L
Drugs that interact with colchicine via inhibition of cytochrome P450 3A4 and P-glycoprotein: a signal detection analysis using a database of spontaneously reported adverse events (FAERS).
The objective of this study was to examine clinical outcomes associated with colchicine drug interactions. Researchers conducted a disproportionality analysis using the spontaneous reports of the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). The study’s results identified numerous safety signals for colchicine and CYP3A4/P-gp inhibitor drugs. The authors concluded that avoiding interactions or monitoring for toxicity in patients when co-prescribing colchicine and these agents is highly recommended.
AHRQ-funded; HS025984.
Citation: Gómez-Lumbreras A, Boyce RD, Villa-Zapata L .
Drugs that interact with colchicine via inhibition of cytochrome P450 3A4 and P-glycoprotein: a signal detection analysis using a database of spontaneously reported adverse events (FAERS).
Ann Pharmacother 2023 Oct; 57(10):1137-46. doi: 10.1177/10600280221148031..
Keywords: Medication, Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Patient Safety
Herzig SJ, Anderson TS, Urman RD
Risk factors for opioid-related adverse drug events among older adults after hospitalization for major orthopedic procedures.
The purpose of this retrospective cohort study was to identify risk factors for opioid-related adverse drug events (ORADEs) after hospital discharge following orthopedic procedures. The participants of this study included a national sample of Medicare beneficiaries who underwent major orthopedic surgery during hospitalization in 2016 and had an opioid prescription filled within 2 days of discharge. The study found that among 30,514 hospitalizations with a major orthopedic procedure and an opioid claim, a potential ORADE requiring hospital revisit occurred in 2.5%. After adjustment for patient characteristics, prior opioid use, co-prescribed sedating medications, and opioid prescription characteristics were not related with ORADEs. Independent risk factors did include age of 80 years or older, female sex, and clinical conditions, including heart failure, respiratory illness, kidney disease, dementia/delirium, anxiety disorder, and musculoskeletal/nervous system injuries.
AHRQ-funded; HS026215.
Citation: Herzig SJ, Anderson TS, Urman RD .
Risk factors for opioid-related adverse drug events among older adults after hospitalization for major orthopedic procedures.
J Patient Saf 2023 Oct 1; 19(6):379-85. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000001144..
Keywords: Elderly, Opioids, Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Hospitalization, Orthopedics, Surgery, Medication, Risk, Medication: Safety, Patient Safety
Langlieb ME, Sharma P, Hocevar M
The additional cost of perioperative medication errors.
The aim of this study was to calculate the additional annual cost to the U.S. healthcare system attributable to preventable medication errors (MEs) in the operating room. The ME types were grouped into 13 categories by their related harm (or potential harm), and researchers calculated the incidence of operations involving each ME category: 1) delayed or missed required perioperative antibiotic; 2) prolonged hemodynamic swings; 3) untreated postoperative pain; 4) residual neuromuscular blockade; 5) oxygen saturation <90% due to ME; 6) delayed emergence; 7) untreated new onset intraoperative cardiac arrhythmia; 8) medication documentation errors; 9) syringe swaps; 10) presumed hypotension with inability to obtain a blood pressure reading; 11) potential for bacterial contamination due to expired medication syringes; 12) untreated bradycardia <40 beats/min; and 13) other. Through a PubMed search, the researchers established the possibility that the ME category would cause downstream patient harm such as surgical site infection or acute kidney injury, and the additional fully allocated cost of care for each potential downstream patient harm event. The cost of the MEs across the U.S. healthcare system was then calculated by scaling the number of MEs to the total number of annual operations in the United States. The total additional fully allocated annual cost of care due to perioperative MEs was estimated to be $5.33 billion U.S. dollars.
AHRQ-funded; HS024764.
Citation: Langlieb ME, Sharma P, Hocevar M .
The additional cost of perioperative medication errors.
J Patient Saf 2023 Oct 1; 19(6):375-78. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000001136..
Keywords: Medication: Safety, Medication, Medical Errors, Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Surgery, Patient Safety
Kalenderian E, Bangar S, Yansane A
Identifying contributing factors associated with dental adverse events through a pragmatic electronic health record-based root cause analysis.
This study’s objective was to analyze harmful dental adverse events (AEs) to assess potential contributing factors. Harmful AEs were defined as those that resulted in temporary moderate to severe harm, required hospitalization, or resulted in permanent moderate to severe harm. The authors classified potential contributing factors according to (1) who was involved (person), (2) what were they doing (tasks), (3) what tools/technologies were they using (tools/technologies), (4) where did the event take place (environment), (5) what organizational conditions contributed to the event? (organization), (6) patient (including parents), and (7) professional-professional collaboration. A second review was conducted by a blinded panel of dental experts to confirm the presence of an AE. A total of 59 cases at 2 dental institutions had 1 or more harmful AEs. The most common harmful AE was pain (27.1%) followed by nerve injury (16.9%), hard tissue injury (15.2%), and soft tissue injury (15.2%). The most common contribution factor was the care provider (training, supervision, and fatigue at 31.5%) followed by patient ((noncompliance, unsafe practices at home, low health literacy, 17.1%), and professional-professional collaboration (15.3%).
AHRQ-funded; HS027268.
Citation: Kalenderian E, Bangar S, Yansane A .
Identifying contributing factors associated with dental adverse events through a pragmatic electronic health record-based root cause analysis.
J Patient Saf 2023 Aug 1; 19(5):305-12. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000001122..
Keywords: Dental and Oral Health, Adverse Events, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Medical Errors, Patient Safety
Liberman AL, Wang Z, Zhu Y
Optimizing measurement of misdiagnosis-related harms using Symptom-Disease Pair Analysis of Diagnostic Error (SPADE): comparison groups to maximize SPADE validity.
The purpose of this paper was to clarify features of the Symptom-Disease Pair Analysis of Diagnostic Error (SPADE) approach to accurately measure diagnostic errors to assure that researchers utilize this method to yield valid results, as well as improve the validity of SPADE and related approaches to quantify diagnostic error in medicine. The researchers describe four types of comparators (intra-group and inter-group), detailing the reason for selecting one over the other and conclusions that can be drawn from these comparative analyses.
AHRQ-funded; HS027614.
Citation: Liberman AL, Wang Z, Zhu Y .
Optimizing measurement of misdiagnosis-related harms using Symptom-Disease Pair Analysis of Diagnostic Error (SPADE): comparison groups to maximize SPADE validity.
Diagnosis 2023 Aug 1; 10(3):225-34. doi: 10.1515/dx-2022-0130..
Keywords: Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Medical Errors, Adverse Events, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Patient Safety
Giuliano J, Krishna A, Napolitano N
Implementation of video laryngoscope-assisted coaching reduces adverse tracheal intubation-associated events in the PICU.
The purpose of this study was to assess the implementation of a video laryngoscope (VL) as a coaching device to decrease adverse tracheal intubation associated events (TIAEs). Between 2016 and 2020 the researchers implemented VLs as coaching devices with standardized coaching language. Laryngoscopists were encouraged to perform direct laryngoscopy with video images only available in real-time for experienced supervising clinician-coaches. The study found that a VL was used in 71% of 5,060 tracheal intubations. VL utilization increased from a baseline of 29.7% to an implementation phase level of 89.4%. VL utilization was related with lower TIAEs compared with standard laryngoscope (SL). VL utilization was related with lower severe TIAE rate, but not related with a reduction in severe hypoxemia. VL utilization was related with greater first attempt success. In the primary analysis after adjusting for site clustering, VL utilization was related with lower adverse TIAEs. In secondary analyses, VL utilization was not significantly related with severe TIAEs, severe hypoxemia, or first attempt success. After additional controlling for patient and provider characteristics, VL utilization was independently related with a lower TIAE rate.
AHRQ-funded; HS024511.
Citation: Giuliano J, Krishna A, Napolitano N .
Implementation of video laryngoscope-assisted coaching reduces adverse tracheal intubation-associated events in the PICU.
Crit Care Med 2023 Jul; 51(7):936-47. doi: 10.1097/ccm.0000000000005847..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Adverse Events, Patient Safety
Marcaccio CL, Patel PB, Rastogi V
Efficacy and safety of single versus dual antiplatelet therapy in carotid artery stenting.
This study’s objective was to examine the efficacy and safety of preoperative single antiplatelet therapy (AP) therapy vs double antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) in patients who had undergone transfemoral CAS (tfCAS) or transcarotid artery revascularization (TCAR). The authors identified all patients who had undergone tfCAS or TCAR in the Vascular Quality Initiative database from 2016 to 2021. A total of 18,570 tfCAS patients were included, of which 70% had received DAPT, 5.6% no AP therapy, 10% ASA only, 8.0% ASA + AP loading dose, 4.6% P2Y12 inhibitor (P2Yi) only, and 2.9% P2Yi + AP loading dose. After adjustment, compared with DAPT, the incidence of stroke/death was higher with no AP therapy, ASA only, and ASA + AP loading dose, but was similar with P2Yi only, and P2Yi + AP loading dose. No differences were found in the incidence of bleeding rates between the treatment groups after tfCAS or TCAR. These findings support the current guidelines recommending DAPT before CAS but also suggest that P2Yi monotherapy might confer thromboembolic benefits similar to those with DAPT.
AHRQ-funded; HS027285.
Citation: Marcaccio CL, Patel PB, Rastogi V .
Efficacy and safety of single versus dual antiplatelet therapy in carotid artery stenting.
J Vasc Surg 2023 May; 77(5):1434-46.e11. doi: 10.1016/j.jvs.2022.12.034..
Keywords: Blood Thinners, Medication, Medication: Safety, Cardiovascular Conditions, Stroke, Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Patient Safety
Karlic KJ, Valley TS, Cagino LM
Identification of patient safety threats in a post-intensive care clinic.
This observational cohort study examined patient safety threats at a post-ICU clinic in an academic, tertiary care medical center and whether post-ICU clinics improve patient safety. The study identified 83 patients, of which 60 patients had 96 separate safety threats. The threats were categorized into 7 themes: medication errors (27%); inadequate medical follow-up (25%); inadequate patient support (16%); high-risk behaviors (5%); medical complications (5%); equipment/supplies failures (4%); and other (18%). They were also categorized as 41% preventable, 27% ameliorable, and 32% were neither preventable nor ameliorable.
AHRQ-funded; HS028038.
Citation: Karlic KJ, Valley TS, Cagino LM .
Identification of patient safety threats in a post-intensive care clinic.
Am J Med Qual 2023 May-Jun; 38(3):117-21. doi: 10.1097/jmq.0000000000000118..
Keywords: Patient Safety, Transitions of Care, Adverse Events
Grauer A, Rosen A, Applebaum JR
Examining medication ordering errors using AHRQ network of patient safety databases.
Research on the impact of Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) systems on drug order inaccuracies has shown inconsistent results, with CPOE not reliably preventing such mistakes. The study utilized the Network of Patient Safety Databases (NPSD) from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to explore the frequency and degree of harm associated with reported events during the ordering stage, and to classify them by error type.
The researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of reported safety incidents provided by healthcare systems associated with patient safety organizations from June 2010 to December 2020. All errors related to medication and other substance orders reported to the NPSD using the common format v1.2 during this period were assessed. The researchers grouped and categorized the prevalence of reported medication order errors by error type, harm levels, and demographic data. The study found that during the study period, 12,830 mistakes were reported. Incorrect dosage accounted for 3,812 errors (29.7%), followed by incorrect medicine 2,086 (16.3%), and incorrect duration 765 (6.0%). Out of 5,282 incidents that affected the patient and had a known severity level, 12 resulted in fatalities, 4 led to severe harm, 45 caused moderate harm, 341 led to minor harm, and 4,880 resulted in no harm. The study concluded that the most frequently reported and damaging types of medication order errors were incorrect dose and incorrect medication orders.
The researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of reported safety incidents provided by healthcare systems associated with patient safety organizations from June 2010 to December 2020. All errors related to medication and other substance orders reported to the NPSD using the common format v1.2 during this period were assessed. The researchers grouped and categorized the prevalence of reported medication order errors by error type, harm levels, and demographic data. The study found that during the study period, 12,830 mistakes were reported. Incorrect dosage accounted for 3,812 errors (29.7%), followed by incorrect medicine 2,086 (16.3%), and incorrect duration 765 (6.0%). Out of 5,282 incidents that affected the patient and had a known severity level, 12 resulted in fatalities, 4 led to severe harm, 45 caused moderate harm, 341 led to minor harm, and 4,880 resulted in no harm. The study concluded that the most frequently reported and damaging types of medication order errors were incorrect dose and incorrect medication orders.
AHRQ-funded; HS026121.
Citation: Grauer A, Rosen A, Applebaum JR .
Examining medication ordering errors using AHRQ network of patient safety databases.
J Am Med Inform Assoc 2023 Apr 19; 30(5):838-45. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocad007..
Keywords: Medication, Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Medical Errors, Patient Safety, Electronic Prescribing (E-Prescribing), Health Information Technology (HIT), Medication: Safety
Wong CI, Vannatta K, Gilleland Marchak J
Preventable harm because of outpatient medication errors among children with leukemia and lymphoma: a multisite longitudinal assessment.
The goal of this longitudinal study was to characterize rates and types of medication errors and harm to outpatient children with leukemia and lymphoma over seven months of treatment. The study included children taking medications at home for leukemia or lymphoma from three pediatric cancer centers. Ten percent experienced adverse drug events because of outpatient medication errors. Twenty-six percent of caregivers reported miscommunication leading to missed doses or overdoses. The authors concluded that improvements addressing communication with and among caregivers should be based on human-factors engineering and codeveloped with families.
AHRQ-funded; HS024390.
Citation: Wong CI, Vannatta K, Gilleland Marchak J .
Preventable harm because of outpatient medication errors among children with leukemia and lymphoma: a multisite longitudinal assessment.
Cancer 2023 Apr 1;129(7):1064-74. doi: 10.1002/cncr.34651.
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Cancer, Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Medical Errors, Ambulatory Care and Surgery, Medication: Safety, Patient Safety
Griffey RT, Schneider RM, Todorov AA
Near-miss events detected using the emergency department trigger tool.
The purpose of this study was to explore near misses and their significance for quality and safety in the emergency department (ED). This study presents a secondary analysis of data from a retrospective investigation of the ED Trigger Tool (EDTT) at an urban, academic ED. The EDTT, a computerized query for triggers, was applied to 13 months of ED visit data, and 5582 selected records were reviewed using a two-tiered approach. Events were categorized by occurrence (ED vs. present on arrival [POA]), severity, omission/commission, and type, employing a taxonomy featuring categories, subcategories, and cross-cutting modifiers. The researchers identified 1458 ED near misses in 1269 of the 5582 records and 80 near misses that were POA. Patient care events constituted the majority of ED near misses, including diagnostic delays, treatment delays, and monitoring failures, primarily influenced by ED boarding and overcrowding. Medication events ranked second in frequency (17%), with 80 medication administration errors identified. Among the 80 POA events, 42% were linked to overanticoagulation. It was estimated that 19.3% of all ED visits involved a near miss.
AHRQ-funded; HS027811; HS025052.
Citation: Griffey RT, Schneider RM, Todorov AA .
Near-miss events detected using the emergency department trigger tool.
J Patient Saf 2023 Mar 1; 19(2):59-66. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000001092..
Keywords: Emergency Department, Patient Safety, Adverse Events, Medical Errors
Ervin JN, Vitous CA, Wells EE
Rescue Improvement Conference: a novel tool for addressing failure to rescue.
The objective of this study was to understand the effectiveness of the Rescue Improvement Conference, a forum that addresses failure to rescue (FTR). FTR is the phenomenon where delayed recognition or response to surgical complications leads to a progressive cascade of adverse events culminating in patient death. The authors used 5 indicators of effectiveness: educational value, conference takeaways, discussion time, changes to surgical practice, and opportunities for improvement and conducted semi-structured interviews. The results showed that conference felt that the Rescue Improvement Conference was effective in all five indicators. The authors concluded that the conference has the potential to support other surgical departments in developing system-level strategies to recognize and manage postoperative complications that contribute to FTR.
AHRQ-funded; HS024403; HS023621.
Citation: Ervin JN, Vitous CA, Wells EE .
Rescue Improvement Conference: a novel tool for addressing failure to rescue.
Ann Surg 2023 Feb; 277(2):233-37. doi: 10.1097/sla.0000000000004832..
Keywords: Surgery, Adverse Events, Patient Safety, Quality of Care, Quality Improvement
Kravchenko OV, Boyce RD, Gomez-Lumbreras A
Drug-drug interaction between dexamethasone and direct-acting oral anticoagulants: a nested case-control study in the national COVID cohort collaborative (N3C).
This study examined whether there is an association between thromboembolotic events (TEEs) and concomitant use of dexamethasone with either apixaban or rivaroxaban (both direct oral anticoagulants or DOACs) during treatment for COVID-19. The authors used data from the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C) to conduct a nested case-control study. Eligible participants were adults over 18 years who were exposed to a DOAC for 10 or more consecutive days and exposure to dexamethasone at least 5 or more consecutive days. The study did not find a discernible association of TEE in patients concomitantly exposed to dexamethasone and a DOAC.
AHRQ-funded; HS025984.
Citation: Kravchenko OV, Boyce RD, Gomez-Lumbreras A .
Drug-drug interaction between dexamethasone and direct-acting oral anticoagulants: a nested case-control study in the national COVID cohort collaborative (N3C).
BMJ Open 2022 Dec 29; 12(12):e066846. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-066846..
Keywords: COVID-19, Blood Thinners, Medication, Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Cardiovascular Conditions, Medication: Safety, Patient Safety
Tan MS, Gomez-Lumbreras A, Villa-Zapata L
Colchicine and macrolides: a cohort study of the risk of adverse outcomes associated with concomitant exposure.
The authors conducted a cohort study using electronic health records comparing encounters with colchicine plus a macrolide and colchicine with an antibiotic non-macrolide, then assessed the relationship between the two groups. They found that heart failure was more frequent in the colchicine plus a macrolide cohort and that there was also a higher mortality rate. As there is a significant increase in the risk of hepatic failure and mortality when colchicine is concomitantly administered with a macrolide, they concluded that colchicine should not be used concomitantly with these antibiotics or should be temporarily discontinued to avoid toxic levels of colchicine.
AHRQ-funded; HS025984.
Citation: Tan MS, Gomez-Lumbreras A, Villa-Zapata L .
Colchicine and macrolides: a cohort study of the risk of adverse outcomes associated with concomitant exposure.
Rheumatol Int 2022 Dec;42(12):2253-59. doi: 10.1007/s00296-022-05201-5..
Keywords: Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Medication, Risk, Antibiotics, Medication: Safety, Patient Safety
Ostrovsky D, Novack V, Smulowitz PB
Perspectives of emergency clinicians about medical errors resulting in patient harm or malpractice litigation.
This cross-sectional study examined survey responses about medical error outcomes completed by emergency department attending physicians and advanced practice clinicians regarding what might be considered excessive testing. The authors surveyed 1222 clinicians and the mean score was greater for fear of harm to patients than fear of a malpractice suit. This finding was true regardless of clinician subtype, experience, or sex.
AHRQ-funded; HS026730.
Citation: Ostrovsky D, Novack V, Smulowitz PB .
Perspectives of emergency clinicians about medical errors resulting in patient harm or malpractice litigation.
JAMA Netw Open 2022 Nov;5(11):e2241461. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.41461..
Keywords: Emergency Department, Medical Errors, Adverse Events, Patient Safety
Blike GT, Perreard IM, McGovern KM
A pragmatic method for measuring inpatient complications and complication-specific mortality.
This study’s objective was to develop hospital-level metrics of major complications associated with mortality that allows for the identification of opportunities for improvement and to improve upon current metrics for failure to rescue (i.e., death from serious but treatable complications.). The authors used AHRQ metrics as the basis for identifying specific complications related to major organ system morbidity associated with death. Using component ICD, 10th Revision codes, complication-specific occurrence rates, observed mortality, and risk-adjusted mortality indices were calculated for the study institution and 182 peer organizations. Statistically significant differences in the study hospital occurrence rates and associated mortality rates compared with peer institutions were shown with the complication-specific method. Use of a monthly control-chart presentation of these metrics provides assessment of hospital-level interventions to prevent complications and/or reduce failure to rescue deaths.
AHRQ-funded; HS024403.
Citation: Blike GT, Perreard IM, McGovern KM .
A pragmatic method for measuring inpatient complications and complication-specific mortality.
J Patient Saf 2022 Oct 1;18(7):659-66. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000000984..
Keywords: Inpatient Care, Adverse Events, Patient Safety
Shafer GJ, Singh H, Thomas EJ
Frequency of diagnostic errors in the neonatal intensive care unit: a retrospective cohort study.
The objective of this study was to determine the frequency and etiology of diagnostic errors during the first 7 days of admission for inborn neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) patients. The "Safer Dx NICU Instrument" was used to review electronic health records. The reviewers discovered that the frequency of diagnostic error in inborn NICU patients during the first 7 days of admission was 6.2%.
AHRQ-funded; HS027363.
Citation: Shafer GJ, Singh H, Thomas EJ .
Frequency of diagnostic errors in the neonatal intensive care unit: a retrospective cohort study.
J Perinatol 2022 Oct;42(10):1312-18. doi: 10.1038/s41372-022-01359-9..
Keywords: Newborns/Infants, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Critical Care, Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Medical Errors, Adverse Events, Patient Safety, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT)
Lusk C, Catchpole K, Neyens DM
Improving safety in the operating room: medication icon labels increase visibility and discrimination.
The purpose of this study was to assess whether the addition of icons to medication labels in an operating room setting would improve visibility and reduce medication administration errors. The multi-disciplinary team of researchers added icons to medication labels applied to vasoactive medication infusions, and the study found that participants were 1.12 times more likely to correctly identify medications with icons from farther away. In addition, when icons were present on the labels, participants were 2.16 times more likely to be more confident in their identifications.
AHRQ-funded; HS026625.
Citation: Lusk C, Catchpole K, Neyens DM .
Improving safety in the operating room: medication icon labels increase visibility and discrimination.
Appl Ergon 2022 Oct;104:103831. doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2022.103831..
Keywords: Medication: Safety, Medication, Patient Safety, Medical Errors, Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events