Emergency medical services (EMS) personnel are in the unique position of providing medical care outside of a healthcare facility. This prospective cohort study conducted in Finland explored the outcomes of patients who were treated by EMS personnel without going to the ED. Findings indicate that 80% of patients treated by EMS did not have any re-contact with the healthcare system (e.g., re-contacted EMS, went to the ED, were hospitalized), suggesting that EMS management of these patients is relatively safe.

Engaging patients and families in their own care can improve outcomes, safety, and satisfaction. This study brought patients, families, clinicians and experts together to identify patient-reported diagnostic process-related breakdowns. The group identified 7 categories, 40 subcategories, 19 contributing factors and 11 patient-reported impacts. Breakdowns were identified in each step of the diagnostic process.

Nurse attitudes towards patient safety culture have shown to impact missed nursing care, iatrogenic harm, and other adverse events. This review synthesizes research on nurses’ safety attitudes and subsequent impact on patient outcomes. While most data on adverse events was self-reported, nurses indicated an improved safety culture resulted in fewer reported adverse events. Nurse managers can play an important role in improving patient safety culture and outcomes in their hospital units.

Telemedicine has become a more accepted care mode due to the COVID pandemic and general rural care access issues. This commentary suggests a 5-part framework for examining patient, physician, technological, clinical and health system influences on care management decisions that affect the safety of telediagnosis in primary care.

This qualitative study conducted in the United Kingdom evaluated the utility of two system models – AcciMap and Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) – to better understand patient safety incident reports and develop remedial actions. Participants appreciated the unique strengths of both models but expressed concerns regarding their complexity and required training/education.

This article describes the development and validation of a decision support model to support healthcare leadership when prioritizing quality improvement initiatives related to four common healthcare-associated infections.

Diagnostic safety remains a patient safety priority. This randomized study including emergency medicine and internal medicine physicians as well as medical students found that electronic differential diagnostic support increased the likelihood that the correct diagnosis appeared in the differential, regardless of whether the tool was used early or late in the diagnostic process.

Based on survey responses from 1,002 participants, this study evaluated how social media users assess, interact and engage with information related to the illegal sales of prescription medicines. Findings suggest that individuals generally perceive online pharmacies and social media platforms to be safe and respondents are confident in their ability to acquire legitimate medicines. The authors note that this false confidence has the potential to lead to patient harm given the prevalence of counterfeit and substandard medication available on these platforms.

The goal of medication reconciliation is to identify medication inconsistencies at hospital discharge. This study identified six common medication reconciliation errors at discharge – duplication, missing route, missing dose, missing frequency, unlisted medication, and “see instructions” errors. The authors evaluated the prevalence of these errors at two pediatric hospitals and found that duplication and “see instructions” errors were most common. 

Safety WalkRounds involve health care leadership or managers visiting frontline staff and engaging in discussions about safety concerns. One university hospital in Switzerland combined WalkRounds with structured in-person observations which helped identify safe care practices and deficits in patient safety. However, there were no significant changes in safety and teamwork climate nine-months after implementation.  

Accreditation programs, such as Magnet Hospital Program and The Joint Commission, are intended to improve hospital patient safety and quality. This review of 76 studies suggests accreditation has a positive impact on safety culture, efficiency and length of stay. Effects on mortality and healthcare-associated infection rates were mixed.

This qualitative study examined patients’ perspectives on trust in hospitals and health care systems. Patients identified three factors that impact their trust in hospitals: competence, caring, and communication.

Pregnancy and childbirth are recognized as high-risk activities for both the pregnant person and infant. This article describes the implementation of a postpartum hemorrhage patient safety bundle. Successes, challenges and recommendations for implementation are included.

Polypharmacy and potentially inappropriate medications continue to pose health risks in older adults. Using a Delphi approach, experts identified 85 minimal requirements for safe medication prescribing in nursing homes. The five key topics recommend structured, regular review and monitoring, interprofessional collaboration, and involving the resident.

Trigger tools are used as signals to detect potential adverse events. Using the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Global Trigger Tool (GTT), one patient safety review team was unable to reproduce harm rates in a test-retest reliability study, suggesting the GTT may not be a reliable measure of harm over time. The team recommends additional test-retest studies in other hospitals.