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The PSNet Collection: All Content

The AHRQ PSNet Collection comprises an extensive selection of resources relevant to the patient safety community. These resources come in a variety of formats, including literature, research, tools, and Web sites. Resources are identified using the National Library of Medicine’s Medline database, various news and content aggregators, and the expertise of the AHRQ PSNet editorial and technical teams.

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Displaying 1 - 20 of 227 Results
Hofer IS, Cheng D, Grogan T. Anesth Analg. 2021;133:698-706.
Anesthesia-related adverse events have been associated with increased length of stay, morbidity and mortality. This study investigated the effect of missed documentation of select comorbidities on postoperative length of stay and mortality. Results indicate that missed documentation of one of the comorbid conditions increased risk of length of stay, and mortality was increased with missed atrial fibrillation.
Lafferty M, Harrod M, Krein SL, et al. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2021;28:28(12).
Use of one-way communication technologies, such as pagers, in hospitals have led to workarounds to improve communication. Through observation, shadowing, interviews, and focus groups with nurses and physicians, this study describes antecedents, types, and effects of workarounds and their potential impact on patient safety.
Curated Libraries
September 13, 2021
Ensuring maternal safety is a patient safety priority. This library reflects a curated selection of PSNet content focused on improving maternal safety. Included resources explore strategies with the potential to improve maternal care delivery and outcomes, such as high reliability, collaborative initiatives, teamwork, and trigger tools.
Grundgeiger T, Hurtienne J, Happel O. Hum Factors. 2020;63:821-832.
The usability of information technology continues to be a challenge in health care. The authors suggest that consideration of the user is critical to improving interaction with technology and thus increasing patient safety. They provide a theoretical foundation for considering user experience in healthcare.
Petrosoniak A, Fan M, Hicks CM, et al. BMJ Qual Saf. 2021;30:739-746.
Trauma resuscitation is a complex, specialized process with a high risk for errors. Researchers analyzed videotapes of in situ simulations to evaluate latent safety events occurring during trauma resuscitation. Themes influencing latent safety events related to physical workspace, mental model formation, equipment, unclear accountability, demands exceeding individuals’ capacity, and task-specific issues.
Small K, Sidebotham M, Gamble J, et al. Midwifery. 2021;102:103074.
Health information technologies intended to reduce patient harm may have unintended consequences (UC). Midwives describe the unintended consequences of central fetal monitoring technology. These consequences included potential loss of patient trust in the midwife, changes in clinical practice, and increased documentation during labor. The authors recommend reevaluation of use of central fetal monitoring due to potential UC without demonstrating improvements in maternal safety.
Morris AH, Stagg B, Lanspa M, et al. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2021;28:1330-1344.
Clinical decision support systems are designed to improve clinical decision-making. The authors of this commentary suggest an alternative, eActions, to reduce clinician burden and increase replicability. Dissemination and use of eActions could contribute to improved clinical care quality and research.
Adams KT, Pruitt Z, Kazi S, et al. J Patient Saf. 2021;17:e988-e994.
It is important to consider unintended consequences when implementing new tools, such as health information technology (HIT). This study reviewed 2,700 patient safety event reports to identify the type of medication error, the stage in the process in which the error occurred, and how HIT usability issues contributed to the errors. Errors in dosing were the most frequent type, and occurred during ordering or reviewing. Most errors described usability issues which should be considered and addressed to improve medication safety.

Obermeyer Z, Nissan R, Stern M, et al. Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence, Chicago Booth: June 2021.

Biased algorithms are receiving increasing attention as artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more present in health care. This publication shares four steps for organizational assessment algorithms to reduce their potential for negatively influencing clinical and administrative decision making.  
Le Cornu E, Murray S, Brown EJ, et al. J Med Radiat Sci. 2021;68:356-363.
Use of health information technology (HIT) can improve care but also lead to unexpected patient harm. In this analysis of incidents and near misses in radiation oncology, a major change in the use of the electronic health record (EHR) led to an increase in reported incidents and near misses. Leaders and HIT professionals should be aware of potential issues and develop a plan to minimize risk prior to major departmental changed including EHR changes.
Cifra CL, Sittig DF, Singh H. BMJ Qual Saf. 2021;30:591-597.
Accurate and timely feedback about patient outcomes can inform and improve future clinical decision-making; however, many barriers exist that prevent effective feedback. This article suggests a sociotechnical approach using information technology (IT) to provide clinician feedback. Feedback sent using the electronic health record can be provided asynchronously, by any member of the care team, and in a structured format to ensure relevance and usefulness.
Aftab H, Shah SHH, Habli I. Stud Health Technol Inform. 2021;281:659-663.
Patients are increasingly using the internet and conversational agents (CAs) like Siri, Alexa, and Google to find answers to their healthcare questions. Investigators used these CAs to detect errors and failures in calculating correct insulin doses. Failure classes include misunderstanding and misrecognition of words. Potential failures must be considered before deployment of CAs in safety-critical environments.
DeGrave AJ, Janizek JD, Lee S-I. Nat Mach Intell. 2021;3:610–619.
Artificial intelligence (AI) systems can support diagnostic decision-making. This study evaluates diagnostic “shortcuts” learned by AI systems in detecting COVID-19 in chest radiographs. Results reveal a need for better training data, improved choice in the prediction task, and external validation of the AI system prior to dissemination and implementations in different hospitals.  
WebM&M Case May 26, 2021

A 65-year-old man with a history of type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and coronary artery disease was transferred from a Level III trauma center to a Level I trauma center with lower extremity paralysis after a ground level fall complicated by a 9-cm abdominal aortic aneurysm and cervical spinal cord injury. Post transfer, the patient was noted to have rapidly progressive ascending paralysis. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed severe spinal stenosis involving C3-4 and post-traumatic cord edema/contusion involving C6-7.

Scantlebury A, Sheard L, Fedell C, et al. Digit Health. 2021;7:205520762110100.
Electronic health record (EHR) downtime can disrupt patient care and increase risk for medical errors. Semi-structured interviews with healthcare staff and leadership at one large hospital in England illustrate the negative consequences of a three-week downtime of an electronic pathology system on patient experience and safety. The authors propose recommendations for hospitals to consider when preparing for potential technology downtimes.
Pruitt ZM, Howe JL, Hettinger AZ, et al. J Patient Saf. 2021;17:e983-e987.
Electronic health record (EHR) usability can affect clinicians’ ability to provide safe patient care. Thematic analysis of interviews with emergency medicine physicians reveal that the most common perceived usability strength was visual display of the EHR system, and the most common shortcoming was lack of workflow support (e.g., a workflow mismatch between the EHR system and how clinicians use the system to accomplish tasks).
WebM&M Case April 28, 2021

A 24-year-old woman with type 1 diabetes presented to the emergency department with worsening abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. Her last dose of insulin was one day prior to presentation. She stopped taking insulin because she was not tolerating any oral intake. The admitting team managed her diabetes with subcutaneous insulin but thought the patient did not meet criteria for diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), but after three inpatient days with persistent hyperglycemia, blurred vision, and altered mental status, a consulting endocrinologist diagnosed DKA.

Funke M, Kaplan MC, Glover H, et al. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf. 2021;47:364-375.
Despite local, state, and national efforts, opioid misuse and overdose remains a public health concern. One strategy to reduce overdose is concurrent prescription of naloxone. This article describes how one emergency department (ED) used staff education to promote a naloxone Best Practice Advisory (BPA) and order set in the electronic health record, amongst other interventions. The BPA significantly increased naloxone prescribing for patients identified as having opioid overdose or misuse diagnoses. Similar high-reliability EMR work-aids and staff education strategies could be implemented in other EDs to increase naloxone prescriptions.