Medical errors: an introduction to concepts.

Review

Medical errors: an introduction to concepts.

March 6, 2005

Kalra J.

View more articles from the same authors.

The author reviews the literature on medical errors and presents core concepts, such as cognitive failure and system factors contributing to active and latent errors.

PubMed citation

Related Resources From the Same Author(s)

Medical errors: impact on clinical laboratories and other critical areas.

March 6, 2005

Advances in Human Factors and Ergonomics in Healthcare and Medical Devices.

September 11, 2019

Check your medical records for dangerous errors.

December 5, 2018

What can physicians do to help curb the opioid crisis?

October 11, 2017

Medical residents angered at extended work hours.

May 10, 2017

Ten ERs in Colorado tried to curtail opioids and did better than expected.

March 7, 2018

Hospital tones down alarms to reduce fatigue, enhance safety.

February 18, 2015

Audit of missed or delayed antimicrobial drugs.

November 13, 2013

To reduce patient falls, hospitals try alarms, more nurses.

October 30, 2013

Alarm fatigue hazards: the sirens are calling.

June 27, 2012

Patient safety: engaging medical staff toward a common goal.

March 22, 2006

Hospitals find confession good for the bottom line.

May 27, 2009

A long way to go.

December 16, 2009

Look-alike, sound-alike drugs trigger dangers.

June 9, 2010

Surgical robot examined in injuries.

May 19, 2010

NY Medicaid ups the ante: by refusing to pay for 14 'never events,' the nation's biggest Medicaid program could propel other states into action.

July 9, 2008

Paralyzed by errors, this Xbox designer is taking on hospital safety.

June 29, 2016

Are we finally getting serious about medical errors?

June 15, 2011

Doctors' smartphones and iPads may be distracting.

April 11, 2012

Junior medics bullied to lie about hours: doctors ordered to work without proper training.

June 1, 2005

Plan aims to cut hospital deaths.

June 15, 2005

Clinical alarms: complexity and common sense.

June 21, 2006

Feds stop public disclosure of many serious hospital errors.

August 13, 2014

Wrong body part, wrong patient surgeries continue despite new procedures.

June 8, 2011

Discussing Unanticipated Outcomes and Disclosing Medical Errors.

March 6, 2005

Disclosure of medical error: policies and practice.

August 17, 2005

Misdiagnoses: a hidden risk of genetic testing.

November 16, 2016

Save a brain, make a checklist.

April 2, 2014

When surgery goes wrong: weighing up the risks.

December 6, 2006

Cause of death: sloppy doctors.

January 31, 2007

Hospitals leery of reporting serious errors.

March 16, 2011

The high cost of low morale in the clinical laboratory: how workplace environment impacts patient safety.

January 14, 2015

Surgeons must tell patients of double-booked surgeries, new guidelines say.

April 27, 2016

How to prevent the top 4 medication errors.

October 17, 2018

Rude providers jeopardize patient safety. So stop it.

June 28, 2017

IBM's Watson is learning its way to saving lives.

October 24, 2012

When doctors get it wrong: misdiagnoses are getting a closer look.

September 9, 2015

To be safe, keep track of pills.

September 20, 2006

Fatal error sparks debate over punitive measures.

May 30, 2007

What's the trouble? How doctors think.

February 7, 2007

Warning of missed patient safety alerts in NHS.

September 1, 2010

Hospital discharge: it's one of the most dangerous periods for patients.

May 11, 2016

Washington man's face catches fire during routine surgical procedure.

December 14, 2011

Rating hospitals by the stars: the feds' latest plan to measure quality is the most controversial.

June 1, 2016

Pharmacy dispensing errors: claims study emphasizes need for systematic vigilance.

March 25, 2015

Closing the safety loop with auto patient ID.

March 6, 2005

Rx for a better prescription. Hospital bans doctors from using confusing medical abbreviations.

October 5, 2005

Improving Patient Safety in Laboratory Medicine.

October 9, 2013

Lessons learned from the RaDonda Vaught ruling.

March 1, 2023

Medicare trims payments to 800 hospitals, citing patient safety incidents.

March 13, 2019

Medicare cuts payments to nursing homes whose patients keep ending up in hospital.

December 12, 2018

A boy's life is lost to sepsis. Thousands are saved in his wake.

April 26, 2017

Half the time, nursing homes scrutinized on safety by Medicare are still treacherous.

July 19, 2017

Medicare takes aim at boomerang hospitalizations of nursing home patients.

June 27, 2018

An E.R. kicks the habit of opioids for pain.

December 14, 2016

Many well-known hospitals fail to score high in Medicare rankings.

August 10, 2016

Half of hospitals in Conn., Del. hit by Medicare's safety penalties.

January 17, 2018

More than 750 hospitals face Medicare crackdown on patient injuries.

July 2, 2014

The robot will see you now.

April 3, 2013

Death of a boy prompts new medical efforts nationwide.

November 7, 2012

Software for symptoms.

January 31, 2007

For Colorado mom, story of daughter's hospital death is key to others' safety.

March 4, 2015

Medicare study finds teaching hospitals have higher risk of complications; findings disputed.

February 29, 2012

Medicare releases patient safety ratings for hospitals.

October 26, 2011

Hospitals that mess up are urged to confess.

June 22, 2016

Score Your Safety Culture.

March 27, 2005

How to Make Your Hospital Stay Safer and Cheaper: A Checklist.

November 7, 2012

Preventing infections: how Portland hospitals compare.

May 19, 2010

The STEP-up programme: engaging all staff in patient safety.

September 26, 2018

Chemotherapy dose limits set by users of a computer order entry system.

March 8, 2006

Becoming a high-reliability organization through shared learning of safety events

January 22, 2020

Air pressure: human factors are the key to a safer flight environment.

April 24, 2019

How Doctors Think.

March 28, 2007

An infection, unnoticed, turns unstoppable.

July 25, 2012

The Human Contribution: Unsafe Acts, Accidents and Heroic Recoveries.

May 5, 2010

Continuous Improvement of Patient Safety: The Case for Change in the NHS.

November 25, 2015

Cultural Issues Related to Allegations of Bullying and Harassment in NHS Highland: Independent Review Report.

June 26, 2019

Cognitive Errors and Diagnostic Mistakes: A Case-Based Guide to Critical Thinking in Medicine.

July 10, 2019

A Life in Error: From Little Slips to Big Disasters.

November 13, 2013

Achieving Safe Health Care: Delivery of Safe Patient Care at Baylor Scott & White Health.

January 6, 2016

Lessons learned from a death outside a hospital's doorstep.

June 26, 2019

How safe do patients feel?

December 14, 2005

How implicit bias harms patient care.

December 18, 2019

Clinical ICT Systems in the Victorian Public Health Sector.

November 20, 2013

Opportunities and Recommendations for State–Federal Coordination to Improve Health System Performance: A Focus on Patient Safety.

January 27, 2010

Medication Overload: America's Other Drug Problem.

June 19, 2019

How business intelligence can improve patient safety.

September 14, 2005

Patient safety, systems design and ergonomics.

June 21, 2006

Improvement of Pennsylvania healthcare consumers' awareness of patient safety.

March 19, 2014

Opioid Stewardship.

April 25, 2018

A girl dies during restraint at hospital already criticized for problems.

August 11, 2010

To combat physician burnout and improve care, fix the electronic health record.

April 11, 2018

Achieving an Exceptional Patient and Family Experience of Inpatient Hospital Care.

March 23, 2011

The Pennsylvania Learning Exchange: Helping States Improve and Integrate Patient Safety Initiatives—Summary Report.

January 2, 2008

Addressing the Opioid Crisis in the United States.

November 2, 2016

Perinatal patient safety from the perspective of nurse executives: a round table discussion.

July 5, 2006

When Doctors Don't Listen.

January 23, 2013

The Ethics of Using QI Methods to Improve Health Care Quality and Safety.

August 16, 2006

Lack of patient knowledge regarding hospital medications.

January 6, 2010

Developing a principle-based approach to safe medication practices.

November 11, 2015

Related Resources

Patient Safety Authority Annual Reports.

May 1, 2023

Annual Perspective

Improving Diagnostic Safety and Quality

April 26, 2023

Perspectives on Safety

Annual Perspective

Technology as a Tool for Improving Patient Safety

March 29, 2023

Structural racism and adverse maternal health outcomes: a systematic review.

December 21, 2022

Prevalence, causes and severity of medication administration errors in the neonatal intensive care unit: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

December 14, 2022

Recommendations for the safety of hospitalised patients in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review.

October 5, 2022

Associations of physician burnout with career engagement and quality of patient care: systematic review and meta-analysis.

September 28, 2022

Eliminating explicit and implicit biases in health care: evidence and research needs.

February 23, 2022

Exploring the theory, barriers and enablers for patient and public involvement across health, social care and patient safety: a systematic review of reviews.

February 10, 2021

The association between health care staff engagement and patient safety outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

February 3, 2021

Impact of alarm fatigue on the work of nurses in an intensive care environment--a systematic review.

February 3, 2021

Systems approach to health service design, delivery and improvement: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

February 3, 2021

The hard talk: dealing with the disruptive physician.

January 20, 2021

Racism as a Root Cause approach: a new framework.

January 1, 2021

Transitions from one electronic health record to another: challenges, pitfalls, and recommendations.

December 16, 2020

Review of alternatives to root cause analysis: developing a robust system for incident report analysis.

September 18, 2019

Patient Safety Primers

Adverse Events, Near Misses, and Errors

September 7, 2019

Improving perceptions of patient safety through standardizing handoffs from the emergency department to the inpatient setting: a systematic review.

August 7, 2019

Psychological and psychosomatic symptoms of second victims of adverse events: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

May 1, 2019

Healthcare scandals and the failings of doctors: do official inquiries hold the profession to account?

March 20, 2019

Artificial intelligence systems for complex decision-making in acute care medicine: a review.

March 13, 2019

Using electronic health records to identify adverse drug events in ambulatory care: a systematic review.

March 13, 2019

Operating room fires.

February 6, 2019

Specifications of computerized provider order entry and clinical decision support systems for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy: a systematic review.

October 10, 2018

Safe practices for copy and paste in the EHR. Systematic review, recommendations, and novel model for health IT collaboration.

February 8, 2017

Patient safety implications of electronic alerts and alarms of maternal–fetal status during labor.

August 31, 2016

Systematic review and meta-analysis of educational interventions designed to improve medication administration skills and safety of registered nurses.

July 20, 2016

Provider-to-provider communication during transitions of care from outpatient to acute care: a systematic review.

February 10, 2016

Interventions for reducing medication errors in children in hospital.

October 28, 2015

Interruptions and medication administration in critical care.

July 29, 2015

See More About The Topic

Health Care Providers

Health Care Executives and Administrators

Active Errors

Latent Errors