Medical Errors
The Effect of Health Care Working Conditions on Patient Safety
Impact of Working Conditions on Patient Safety
Improving Health Care Quality
Medical Errors: The Scope of the Problem
Partnerships for Quality: Fact Sheet
Patient Safety Research Initiatives: Fiscal Year 2001
Priority Areas for National Action: Transforming Health Care
Quality
Reducing and Preventing Adverse Drug Events To
Decrease
Hospital Costs
Reducing Medical Errors in Health Care: Fact Sheet
Research on Medical Errors
AHRQ Web M&M: Fact Sheet
Conferences and Workshops
Beyond State Reporting: Medical Errors and Patient Safety Issues
Workshop Brief, June 6-8, 2001
Can You Minimize Health Care Costs by Improving Patient Safety?
Web Conference, September 20, 30, and October 1, 2002
How Safe Is Our Healthcare System? What States Can Do to
Improve Patient Safety and Reduce Medical Errors
Workshop Brief, March 20-22, 2000
Making the Health Care System Safer
Patient Safety Research Conference, March 2-4, 2003
Evidence Reports
Making Health Care Safer: A Critical Analysis of Patient Safety
Practices: Summary, Evidence Report, File Download
Patient Fact Sheets
Five Steps to Safer Health Care (PDF File, 360 KB)
20 Tips to Help Prevent Medical Errors (PDF File, 222 KB)
20 Tips to Help Prevent Medical Errors in Children (PDF File, 283 KB)
Patient Safety Task Force
AHRQ's Patient Safety Initiative: Building Foundations, Reducing Risk (Interim Report to the Senate Committee on Appropriations)
Fact Sheet
Final Agenda: National Summit on Patient Safety Data
Patient Safety Reporting Systems and Research in HHS
Secretary Thompson Announces HHS Patient Safety Task Force
Quality Interagency Coordination (QuIC) Task Force
QuIC Fact Sheet
QuIC Report to the President on Medical Errors
QuIC Web Site
Research Findings
Research Activities, May 2004:
Conference participants outline research agenda for pediatric outpatient safety
Research Activities, February 2004:
Computerized physician order entry needs further refinement to substantially reduce medication errors in primary care
Research Activities, January 2004:
Interdisciplinary teamwork is a key to patient safety in the operating room, ICU, and ER
Using chlorhexidine gluconate solution for vascular catheter site care greatly reduces the risk of catheter-related infection
Research Activities, December 2003:
Studies focus on systems for reporting medical errors and quality issues
Ethics consultations can help resolve conflicts that may prolong unwanted or nonbeneficial ICU treatments
Experts are uncertain whether full disclosure of medical errors will help avoid lawsuits
Retrospective drug utilization review may not improve clinical outcomes or reduce the rate of potential prescribing errors
Research Activities, October 2003:
Injuries in hospitals pose a significant threat to patients and substantially increase health care costs
Research Activities, September 2003:
Information technology is one key to improving patient safety
Research Activities, August 2003:
Continuing use of autopsy appears warranted to uncover important unsuspected diagnoses
Research Activities, July 2003:
Common physician medication errors could be prevented by linking laboratory and pharmacy information systems
Disclosure to patients of in-hospital medical errors has increased, but there is room for improvement
Research Activities, June 2003:
Patient safety problems in hospitalized children are substantial
Physicians have an important role to play in improving patient safety and quality of care
Research Activities, May 2003:
Medical errors affect 2 to 3 percent of hospitalized children and are more common in those with special medical needs
Fear of lawsuits may make physicians reluctant to disclose medical errors to patients
Knowledge of non-Western health practices may help doctors avoid misdiagnoses and other problems in Asian-American patients
Research Activities, April 2003:
Certain factors increase the likelihood that sponges or instruments will be left inside a surgical patient
Interpretation errors are common during medical encounters with people who have limited English proficiency
Malpractice pressure prompts unnecessary treatments and care costs without improving patient outcomes
Research Activities, December 2002:
High-risk cardiovascular procedures, but not cancer operations, are becoming safer
Research Activities, November 2002:
AHRQ has funded nearly 100 research projects focused on improving patient safety
Research Activities, July 2002:
Medical schools and residency programs should provide more training on preventing adverse drug reactions
Telling patients about mistakes made in their care is the right thing to do and may reduce lawsuits
Focusing on medical injuries instead of medical errors may be one way to improve patient safety
Research Activities, June 2002:
Computerized algorithms that generate reminders, alerts, protocols, and other information reduce clinical errors
New Zealand's no-fault approach to medical injury cases has the potential to prevent such injuries in the future
Research Activities, December 2001:
Potentially inappropriate medications are prescribed for up to one in five elderly people
Research Activities, June 2001:
Medication errors are common in hospitalized children
Research Activities, April 2001:
Analyzing near-miss medical errors by graduate medical trainees can identify ways to improve medical education
Research Activities, August 2000:
Study of ER care for febrile infants finds that system changes may be the best way to reduce medical errors
Research Activities, February 2000:
President Clinton announces new actions to improve patient safety and assure health care quality
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