Physician fatigue can inhibit decision-making and contribute to poor performance. This cross-sectional study examined surgical procedures performed between January 2010 and August 2020 across 20 high-volume hospitals in the United States to determine the association between surgeon fatigue, operating overnight and outcomes for operations performed by the same surgeon the next day. No significant associations were found between overnight surgeries and surgical outcomes for procedures performed the next day.

… J Am Coll Clin Pharm … Deprescribing is a patient safety … recommend deprescribing to their patients. … Davila H, Rosen AK, Stolzmann K, et al. Factors influencing providers' willingness to …

In this qualitative study, researchers applied an organizational learning perspective to characterize the various approaches used by four Veterans Health Administration hospitals to determine their patient safety priorities.

… Am. J. Surg. … Am J Surg … In this study, researchers analyzed 245 …

… Commission journal on quality and patient safety … Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf … Reducing readmissions remains a major …

As outpatient surgery becomes more prevalent, attention around related safety concerns grows. Researchers analyzed postprocedure emergency department visits and hospital admissions to better understand factors associated with the safety of outpatient procedures performed within the Veterans Health Administration.

Readmissions occur frequently after hospital discharge and may reflect opportunities to improve the quality and safety of care provided during the index admission. Using a modified Delphi process, an expert panel reviewed 30-day postoperative readmissions over a 7-year period for patients who had received surgery within the Veterans Affairs system. The study suggests that more than 50% of postoperative readmissions may be related to the quality of surgical care provided during the index admission.

The Veterans Affairs Surgical Quality Improvement Program (VASQIP) and the private sector National Surgical Quality Improvement Program have transformed both safety measurement and quality in surgery. Historically, VASQIP has placed comparatively little emphasis on outpatient surgical safety. This study examined trends in hospital admission within 7 days of all outpatient surgeries performed among veterans age 65 and older in the United States. Researchers found that 16% of these procedures were associated with 7-day admission, higher than what has been observed in younger, healthier patients. Common reasons for admission included surgical, medical, or device complications and inability to secure safe aftercare at home. The authors posit that, while not every admission represents a preventable adverse event, measurement is a critical step toward improving outpatient surgical safety. A recent PSNet interview and perspective explored the evolution of surgical patient safety.

… J Patient Saf … J Patient Saf … This qualitative study asked surgical staff …

Surgical site infections are a common hospital-acquired condition. This clinical guideline reviews the literature and gathers expert opinion to identify generalizable evidence-based strategies to reduce surgical site infections. The authors highlight antimicrobial, preoperative hygiene, glycemic control, and skin preparation procedures to prevent infection.

… Journal of the American College of Surgeons … J Am Coll Surg … Surgical site infections are a persistent …

The AHRQ Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs) use hospitals' administrative data to measure quality and carry financial consequences for hospitals as part of pay-for-performance initiatives. Prior research has raised concerns about the validity of PSIs compared with directly using clinical data to identify safety events. AHRQ recently restructured PSI-90 (a composite measure containing multiple distinct PSIs) from volume-based to harm-based weighting. Using data from 132 Veterans Health Administration hospitals, this retrospective study compared hospital performance using the previous PSI-90 with performance under the redesigned measure. Although there was strong association between the volume-based and harm-based PSI-90 measures, use of the harm-based version had a significant impact on pay-for-performance because of changes in the weights of the component measures. Approximately 15% of hospitals in the study would face changes in financial penalties under the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program when using the new PSI-90. A past PSNet perspective discussed the impact of pay-for-performance.

… Commission journal on quality and patient safety … Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf … High reliability organizations operate …

Even though disclosure of medical errors reduces litigation and patient distress, many providers remain uncomfortable with disclosing and apologizing for errors. In this survey of 67 surgeons across 3 medical centers, most reported prompt disclosure of adverse events. Surgeons who had difficult disclosure conversations experienced more anxiety. These results highlight the continued importance of supporting providers who experience emotional distress after medical errors.

… Am J Med Qual … Am J Med Qual … Progress in patient safety has been limited by a …

Trigger tools have been shown to be an efficient way to screen for adverse events. This AHRQ-funded study assessed the usefulness of different adverse drug event triggers in the outpatient setting. Five of the triggers performed reasonably well for either detecting harm or leading to a change in care plan.

… journal of the American College of Medical Quality … Am J Med Qual … This study reports the development of a …

The AHRQ Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs) are increasingly used as publicly reported measures of hospital quality performance. This study investigated Veterans Health Administration hospitals with low and high PSI composite scores. Although high performers exhibited some distinctions in leadership and communication, overall the relationship between PSI score and organizational processes was inconsistent.

… American journal of surgery … Am J Surg … There is consensus that multiple methods must be …

This retrospective study of hospital data found that estimated adverse event rates varied between use of AHRQ Patient Safety Indicators and chart abstraction. These differences translated into substantial changes in hospital performance ratings and payments, emphasizing the challenge in using administrative data to assess hospital safety.