Disclosure and reporting of surgical complications: a double-edged sword?
Stahel PF, Flierl MA, Smith WR, et al. Disclosure and reporting of surgical complications: a double-edged sword? Am J Med Qual. 2010;25(5):398-401. doi:10.1177/1062860610370989.
An orthopedic surgery department implemented a confidential, real-time system for reporting intraoperative adverse events and analyzed these events in structured morbidity and mortality conferences. Although physicians felt this process improved patient care, it resulted in a significant increase in reported error rates, which, as the authors point out, could have resulted in lower quality ratings for the department.