Discrimination can contribute to health inequities and exacerbate disparities in cancer care. In this study, researchers used a survey tool and qualitative interviews to explore the experiences of perceived discrimination for Black women and how it impacts cervical cancer prevention. Study findings suggest that perceived high degrees of discrimination create mistrust between patients and providers and can impact health outcomes.

Adverse drug events (ADE) can result in patient harm, hospital admissions, and, in severe cases, death. This systematic review and meta-analysis estimates the prevalence of preventable ADEs resulting in emergency department visits or hospitalization, and the types and prevalence of ADEs and implicated drugs.

Stigma can prevent patients from seeking necessary mental health care. In this study, researchers conducted qualitative interviews with patients and health care providers to assess mental health stigma and barriers to use of integrated behavioral health (IBH) in primary care settings. Participants identified the importance of normalizing discussions about mental health care and patient-centered communication.

Community pharmacists play an important role in ensuring patient safety. This retrospective analysis of 18 outpatient pharmacy clinics evaluated pharmacist recommendations and impacts on medication-related safety. Researchers indicated that outpatient pharmacists were effective in resolving 82% of medication-related problems; 18% of these involved high-risk recommendations, such as medication interactions.

Rates of prescription opioid misuse and abuse led to recommendations for dose tapering for patients with chronic pain. However, concerns have been raised about the potential harms associated with rapidly decreasing doses or discontinuing opioids. Building on previous research, these researchers used a large claims database to explore the unintended negative consequences of tapering patients on stable, long-term opioid therapy. Findings indicate that opioid tapering was associated with fewer primary care visits, greater numbers of emergency department visits, and reduced adherence to antihypertensive and antidiabetic medications.

Patient and caregiver engagement is an important strategy for improving the quality and safety of care. This qualitative study with 18 patients and/or caregivers explored perspectives on engagement in primary care. While participants were supportive of engagement in their care and safety, some expressed concerns regarding additional workload for patients. Participants also provided feedback on a patient safety guide for primary care (PSG-PC) and identified areas to embed the PSG-PC into routine interactions with primary care, particularly for individuals caring for a family member with complex or chronic health conditions.

Patients and families are encouraged to play an active role in patient safety by, for example, reporting inaccurate or incomplete electronic health record notes after visits. In this study, patients and families at two US healthcare sites (pediatric subspecialty and adult primary care) were invited to complete a survey (OurDX) before their visit to identify their visit priority, recent medical history/symptoms, and potential diagnostic concerns. In total, 7.5% of patients and families reported a potential diagnostic concern, mainly not feeling heard by their provider.

Context, such as patient, clinician, location, or specialty, can affect the type and frequency of diagnostic errors. In this novel study, the diagnostic errors of a cohort of clinicians who practice in multiple locations (i.e., outpatient and emergency department) with different referral types (i.e., scheduled visit, urgent visit, emergency visit) was evaluated. Using the Revised Safer Dx instrument, researchers identified significantly more diagnostic errors in patients with scheduled visits compared to urgent or emergent referrals. The results indicate, that among clinicians in the same specialty, it may be contextual factors (i.e., referral type) that affect diagnostic errors rather than specialty.

Opioid medication use is associated with an increased risk of adverse events; however research has shown sudden discontinuation of opioids is also associated with adverse events such as withdrawal and hospitalization. This before and after study evaluated the impact of the VA’s Opioid Safety Initiative (OSI) on characteristics and prescribing practices. Results indicate that length of tapering period increased, and mortality risk decreased following OSI implementation.

Research has shown that prescribers who are notified of a patient’s fatal opioid overdose will decrease milligram morphine equivalents (MME) up to 3 months following notification as compared to prescribers who are not notified. This article reports on the same cohort’s prescribing behavior at 4-12 months. Among prescribers who received notification, total weekly MME continued to decrease more than the control group during the 4-12 month period.

Patients who access their electronic health record (EHR) through a patient portal have identified clinically relevant errors such as allergies, medications, or diagnostic errors. This study focused on patient-identified diagnostic safety blind spots in ambulatory care clinical notes. The largest category of blind spots was diagnostic misalignment. Many patients indicated they reported the errors to the clinicians, suggesting shared notes may increase patient and family engagement in safety.

Remote delivery of care, such as telehealth and e-prescribing, increased sharply at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. This rapid review was conducted to determine the types and frequency of medication safety incidents associated with remote delivery of primary care prior to the pandemic. Fifteen articles were identified covering medication safety and e-prescribing; none of these studies associated medication safety and telehealth.

Previous research found that a pharmacist-led information technology intervention (PINCER) reduced dangerous prescribing (i.e., medication monitoring and drug-disease errors) among a subset of primary care practices in the United Kingdom (UK). This longitudinal analysis examined the impact of the PINCER intervention after implementation across a large proportion of general practices in one region in the UK. Researchers found the PINCER intervention decreased dangerous prescribing by 17% and 15% at 6-month and 12-month follow-ups, particularly among dangerous prescribing related to gastrointestinal bleeding.

Delayed diagnosis and treatment of cancer is a serious patient safety problem. This retrospective study including 711 patients diagnosed with lung cancer used electronic health records and natural language processing (NLP) to identify relevant signs and symptoms in the two years prior to their cancer diagnosis. Researchers found that NLP can identify signs and symptoms associated with lung cancer over a year prior to diagnosis.