Insurance policies can have consequences that reduce the safety of medical care. This latest version of the study surveyed 1000 physicians in 2022 to find that prior authorization requirements contributed to patient harm or potentially preventable hospitalization 33 percent of the time. 

Many graduate medical education programs have instituted patient safety didactics or online courses to meet accreditation standards, but these are likely insufficient in the face of real-world practices commonly witnessed by trainees in clinical settings. Recognizing the importance of this hidden curriculum on shaping trainees' behaviors, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) created the Clinical Learning Environment Review (CLER) program to evaluate teaching institutions in six focus areas: patient safety, quality improvement, transitions in care, supervision, duty hours, and professionalism. Between June 2017-February 2020, the ACGME visited more than 566 ACGME-accredited institutions as part of this program. According to ACGME leaders, the early findings show an overall lack of trainee engagement in the systems-based practices. Available on the Web site, the latest CLER report describes discoveries from the program and provides a guide for teaching institutions to create clinical environments that support patient safety training and practices.

Skin condition diagnosis is a visual activity that is vulnerable to error. This article highlights how conditions such as psoriasis and skin cancer can be misdiagnosed. The piece shares recommendations for patients to obtain an accurate diagnosis such as seeking a second opinion and preparing for appointments with notes and questions.

Physician implicit bias is gaining attention as a patient safety concern. This piece shares a story of ineffective care delivery to a patient with COVID-19 as context for the discussion. Hospital tactics to address the problem such as training and use of patient survey data to motivate individual action are reviewed.   

Clinicians are susceptible for medication misuse due to stress, fatigue, or arrogance. This news article discusses how drug diversion should signal behaviors that can harm patients, the clinicians themselves, and the organizations they work for. Reporting gaps contribute to the perpetuation of the problem. 

This story discusses failures related emergency psychiatric assessment, including premature discharge, implicit bias, patient management discontinuity and inappropriate physical restraint that contributed to the death of a patient at risk for suicide.

The culture of blame is exacerbated by stress, production pressure, and a negative work environment. This article discusses how medication errors that take place during the care of patients with COVID-19 are not being reported by nurses due to lack of time and psychological safety. Recommendations to avoid this situation include heightening prevention efforts by employing tactics such as deployment of huddles and use of pre-mixed medication solutions.