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Blackbox error management: how do practices deal with critical incidents in everyday practice? A qualitative interview study

Authors :
Aljoscha Bodek
Marina Pommée
Alexandra Berger
Maria Giraki
Beate Sigrid Müller
Dania Schütze
Source :
BMC Primary Care, Vol 24, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2023)
Publication Year :
2023
Publisher :
BMC, 2023.

Abstract

Abstract Background Error management plays a key role in patient safety. It is a systematic approach aimed at identifying and learning from critical incidents by reporting, documenting and analyzing them. Almost nothing is known about the incidents physicians in outpatient care consider to be critical and how they deal with them. We carried out an interview study to explore outpatient physicians’ views on error management, discover what they regard as critical incidents, and find out how error management is put into practice in ambulatory care. Methods We conducted 72 semi-structured interviews with physicians from ambulatory practices. We asked participants what they considered to be a critical incident, how they reacted following an incident, how they discussed incidents with their coworkers, and whether they used critical incident reporting systems. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results Interviewed physicians defined the term “critical incident” differently. Most participants reported that they recorded information on incidents and discussed them in their teams. Several physicians reported taking a ‘pay better attention next time-approach’ to the analysis of incidents. Systematic error management involving incident documentation, analysis, preventive measure development, and follow-up, was the exception. Conclusions To promote error management, medical training should include teaching on the topic, so that medical professionals can learn about critical incidents and how to deal with them in an open and structured manner. This would help establish the culture of safety that has long been called for internationally.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
27314553
Volume :
24
Issue :
1
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
BMC Primary Care
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.3f297f5942ed44708c96f8c4f8a3edce
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12875-023-02206-2