Autopsies are an important tool for identifying diagnostic errors. This retrospective study of 821 pediatric cancer deaths found that 10% had a major diagnostic discrepancy between antemortem and postmortem diagnoses. These discrepancies primarily consisted of missed infections, missed cancer diagnoses, and organ complications.

Few medical humanitarian organizations have patient safety reporting and analysis systems. Interviews with medical and paramedical staff working in international humanitarian organizations expressed high expectations for organizational leadership to establish clear patient safety and medical error management policies.  

Delays in diagnosis and treatment during after-hours care pose serious threats to patient safety. This case-control study compared missed acute coronary syndrome (ACS) cases to other cases with chest discomfort occurring during out-of-hours services in primary care. Predictors of missed ACS included the use of cardiovascular medication, non-retrosternal chest pain, and consultation of the supervising general practitioner.   

Patients who have fallen in their homes and are found by a home healthcare worker are referred to as “found-on-floor” incidents. This study found that length of stay was a key theme in found-on-floor incidents and signaled underlying system-level issues, such as lack of informational continuity across the continuum of care (e.g., lack of standard documentation across settings, unclear messaging regarding clients’ home care needs), reliance on home healthcare workers instead of rehabilitation professionals, and lack of fall assessment follow-up. The authors recommend systems-level changes to improve fall prevention practices, such as use of electronic health records across the continuum of care and enhanced accountability in home safety.  

This study examined ambulatory follow-up of test results by aggregating multiple types of data—national surveys on safety culture and patient satisfaction; patient complaints; safety reports; and electronic health record audits of provider response times. Researchers found an association between quicker response time for test results and higher patient satisfaction. They conclude that merging these disparate data sources can uncover new levers to improve patient safety.

Patients are at risk for adverse events after they transition from hospital to home. This direct observation and interview study identified significant concerns related to care transitions from hospital to home health care among patients discharged from the hospital. The study team found instances of missing and erroneous information. Information also had to be gleaned from multiple sources, and too much information could cause confusion and interfere with home health care. The authors recommend redesigning the care transition process from hospital to home health care providers in order to promote safety.

This review of the literature explored the concept of diagnostic reasoning as it applies to nursing practice. Common themes included cognitive bias, dual process thinking, diagnostic error, and patient harm. The author suggests that these concepts be covered in nurse practitioner education as a strategy to improve diagnosis.

Patient complaints are associated with increased malpractice risk. This retrospective cohort study of more than 1300 ophthalmologists sought to determine whether ophthalmologist age was linked to likelihood of receiving unsolicited patient complaints. The authors found that unsolicited patient complaints occur less frequently among older ophthalmologists.

Burnout affects the ability of clinicians and trainees to practice safely. This commentary describes work characteristics that contribute to burnout and reviews organizational and educational strategies to reduce professional burnout among pharmacy practitioners and trainees.

High-quality error investigation can pave the way for safety improvement. This survey of community pharmacists found that a blame-free culture promotes learning from error investigation, but work stress impedes safety culture. The authors suggest that working conditions and safety culture should be addressed in order to improve safety in community pharmacies.

Insufficient health literacy is a known patient safety hazard. This article reviews incidents submitted to a state reporting initiative where insufficient patient understanding may have played a role in delayed or missed care and describes a program to encourage adoption of teach-back and other strategies to help patients better comprehend their health care instructions. A past PSNet perspective discussed the role of health literacy in patient safety.

Postdischarge medication errors occurred in nearly half of patients hospitalized for acute coronary syndromes or congestive heart failure, with errors more likely to occur in patients with limited health literacy or numeracy.

This qualitative study used interviews with community pharmacists to characterize the types of latent errors that can contribute to problems with handoffs in care. Since the handoff process was not standardized, pharmacists reported encountering both information overload and a lack of accurate information when giving and receiving handoffs.