This report is based upon the results of a national random digit dialed telephone survey in which 943 adults were queried. Subjects reported the proportion of deaths due to motor vehicle crashes, falls, fires/burns, drowning and poisoning that they felt were preventable. On average, respondents believed that 56% of 'fatal accidents' were preventable; as were 62% of motor vehicle crash deaths, 5...

BACKGROUND Chemotherapy administration is a high-risk process. Aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency, type, preventability, as well as potential and actual severity of outpatient chemotherapy prescribing errors in an Oncology Department where electronic prescribing is used. METHODS Up to three electronic prescriptions per patient record were selected from the clinical records of con...

BACKGROUND Although our understanding of medical adverse events has increased substantially over the last decade, little is known about iatrogenic adverse events (IAEs) in the coronary care unit (CCU). We sought to determine the frequency and potential preventability of IAEs in the CCU of a tertiary care center. METHODS AND RESULTS We undertook a retrospective cohort study evaluating the hosp...

BACKGROUND Early readmission after PCI is an important contributor to healthcare expenditures and a target for performance measurement. The extent to which 30-day readmissions after PCI are preventable is unknown yet essential to minimizing their occurrence. METHODS AND RESULTS PCI patients readmitted to hospital at which PCI was performed within 30 days of discharge at the Massachusetts Gene...

BACKGROUND The aim of this systematic review is to quantify potentially preventable patient harm from the frequency, severity, and preventability of the consequences and causes of surgical adverse events to help target patient safety improvement efforts. DATA SOURCES Two authors independently reviewed articles retrieved from systematic searches of the Cochrane library, MEDLINE, Embase, PsycIN...

We developed a laboratory incident report classification system that can guide reduction of actual and potential adverse events. The system was applied retrospectively to 129 incident reports occurring during a 16-month period. Incidents were classified by type of adverse event (actual or potential), specific and potential patient impact, nature of laboratory involvement, testing phase, and pre...

Adverse drug reactions are considered to be among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Approximately 5-25% of hospital admissions are due to adverse drug reactions and 6-15% of hospitalized patients experience serious adverse drug reactions, causing significant prolongation of hospital stay. Thus this study was aimed at determining adverse drug reactions by conducting spontaneous repo...