Legal and policy interventions to improve patient safety.

Allen Kachalia; Michelle M. Mello; Brahmajee K. Nallamothu; David M. Studdert

Review

Legal and policy interventions to improve patient safety.

March 2, 2016

Kachalia A, Mello MM, Nallamothu BK, et al. Circulation. 2016;133(7):661-71.

View more articles from the same authors.

This review explores policy and legal approaches to addressing care delivery problems, including strategies that focus on transparency, reimbursement, professional regulation, and tort reform. The authors suggest cardiologists are well-positioned as leaders in adopting these approaches because the conditions they treat are highly visible, common, and expensive.

PubMed citation

Available at

Related Resources From the Same Author(s)

Administrative compensation for medical injuries: lessons from three foreign systems.

August 3, 2011

The medical liability climate and prospects for reform.

November 19, 2014

"Health courts" and accountability for patient safety.

September 13, 2006

Beyond negligence: avoidability and medical injury compensation.

October 31, 2007

Apology laws and malpractice liability: what have we learned?

July 8, 2020

Claims, errors, and compensation payments in medical malpractice litigation.

May 17, 2006

Surgeons and systems working together to drive safety and quality.

March 29, 2023

Medical monitoring for pharmaceutical injuries: tort law for the public's health?

March 6, 2005

Cognitive errors and logistical breakdowns contributing to missed and delayed diagnoses of breast and colorectal cancers: a process analysis of closed malpractice claims.

June 13, 2012

Malpractice liability and health care quality: a review

February 19, 2020

National costs of the medical liability system.

September 15, 2010

Ensuring successful implementation of communication-and-resolution programmes.

March 18, 2020

Prevalence and characteristics of physicians prone to malpractice claims.

February 3, 2016

Relationship between quality of care and negligence litigation in nursing homes.

April 13, 2011

Disclosure of medical injury to patients: an improbable risk management strategy.

January 24, 2007

Who pays for medical errors? An analysis of adverse event costs, the medical liability system, and incentives for patient safety improvement.

February 6, 2008

Missed and delayed diagnoses in the ambulatory setting: a study of closed malpractice claims.

October 11, 2006

Changes in practice among physicians with malpractice claims.

April 3, 2019

Outcomes in two Massachusetts hospital systems give reason for optimism about communication-and-resolution programs.

October 11, 2017

Defensive medicine among high-risk specialist physicians in a volatile malpractice environment.

June 8, 2005

Missed and delayed diagnoses in the emergency department: a study of closed malpractice claims from 4 liability insurers.

October 11, 2006

Delayed time to defibrillation after in-hospital cardiac arrest.

January 16, 2008

Improving patient safety through transparency.

November 6, 2013

Inpatient Notes: mistakes in the hospital—communicating, apologizing, and beyond.

January 18, 2017

Physician implicit review to identify preventable errors during in-hospital cardiac arrest.

January 26, 2011

Effects of a communication-and-resolution program on hospitals' malpractice claims and costs.

December 19, 2018

New persistent opioid use after minor and major surgical procedures in US adults.

April 26, 2017

Improving reconciliation following medical injury: a qualitative study of responses to patient safety incidents in New Zealand.

October 4, 2017

Case outcomes in a communication-and-resolution program in New York hospitals.

February 1, 2017

Implementing hospital-based communication-and-resolution programs: lessons learned in New York City.

February 5, 2014

Responding to medical errors — implementing the modern ethical paradigm.

January 31, 2024

Malpractice reform—opportunities for leadership by health care institutions and liability insurers.

April 14, 2010

Managing the risks of concurrent surgeries.

March 30, 2016

The evolving story of overlapping surgery.

July 19, 2017

The role of medical liability reform in federal health care reform.

July 1, 2009

Patient safety and medical malpractice: a case study.

March 6, 2005

Patients' experiences with communication-and-resolution programs after medical injury.

October 18, 2017

Contraindicated medication use in dialysis patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.

December 16, 2009

Disclosing harmful medical errors to patients: tackling three tough cases.

September 30, 2009

Checklists change communication about key elements of patient care.

October 10, 2012

Financial incentives and mortality: taking pay for performance a step too far.

March 16, 2016

Building an ambulatory safety program at an academic health system.

May 15, 2019

Understanding liability risk from using health care artificial intelligence tools.

January 31, 2024

Medical malpractice liability in the age of electronic health records.

December 1, 2010

'Poking the skunk': ethical and medico-legal concerns in research about patients' experiences of medical injury.

July 17, 2019

Advising patients about patient safety: current initiatives risk shifting responsibility.

September 7, 2005

Fostering rational regulation of patient safety.

July 20, 2005

Governance of quality of care: a qualitative study of health service boards in Victoria, Australia.

May 28, 2014

Hospital readmissions: physician awareness and communication practices.

November 19, 2008

Can communication-and-resolution programs achieve their potential? Five key questions.

December 19, 2018

Improving clinician well-being and patient safety through human-centered design.

March 8, 2023

Closing the loop with ambulatory staff on safety reports.

December 4, 2019

Disclosure-and-resolution programs that include generous compensation offers may prompt a complex patient response.

December 19, 2012

Assessing patients 2019 experiences with medical injury reconciliation processes: item generation for a novel survey questionnaire.

May 5, 2021

No-fault compensation for medical injuries: the prospect for error prevention.

March 6, 2005

Liability impact of the hospitalist model of care.

November 5, 2014

The incorporation of patient safety into board certification examinations.

April 12, 2006

Disclosure, apology, and offer programs: stakeholders' views of barriers to and strategies for broad implementation.

January 9, 2013

The PRONE score: an algorithm for predicting doctors' risks of formal patient complaints using routinely collected administrative data.

May 27, 2015

Disclosing harmful medical errors to patients.

July 11, 2007

Challenges of implementing a communication-and-resolution program where multiple organizations must cooperate.

December 21, 2016

Greatest impact of safe harbor rule may be to improve patient safety, not reduce liability claims paid by physicians.

January 29, 2014

Accountability sought by patients following adverse events from medical care: the New Zealand experience.

November 1, 2006

Four states with robust prescription drug monitoring programs reduced opioid dosages.

June 27, 2018

Malpractice claims related to diagnostic errors in the hospital.

August 23, 2017

Safety culture in the operating room: variability among perioperative healthcare workers.

September 13, 2017

Evaluating inpatient mortality: a new electronic review process that gathers information from front-line providers.

November 5, 2014

Does full disclosure of medical errors affect malpractice liability? The jury is still out.

March 6, 2005

Assessment of perioperative outcomes among surgeons who operated the night before.

June 8, 2022

Medical errors involving trainees: a study of closed malpractice claims from 5 insurers.

October 24, 2007

Assessing information sources to elucidate diagnostic process errors in radiologic imaging—a human factors framework.

September 5, 2018

Creating a fellowship curriculum in patient safety and quality.

September 17, 2014

Ambulatory medication reconciliation: using a collaborative approach to process improvement at an academic medical center.

March 30, 2016

Rapid response teams: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

January 20, 2010

Inappropriate prescribing to older patients by nurse practitioners and primary care physicians.

November 8, 2023

Claiming behaviour in a no-fault system of medical injury: a descriptive analysis of claimants and non-claimants.

September 6, 2006

Rates and characteristics of paid malpractice claims among US physicians by specialty, 1992–2014.

April 19, 2017

Incidence, patterns, and prevention of wrong-site surgery.

April 19, 2006

Accidental deaths, saved lives, and improved quality.

October 5, 2005

Effect of bar-code technology on the safety of medication administration.

May 12, 2010

Liability claims and costs before and after implementation of a medical error disclosure program.

August 25, 2010

Classifying safety events related to diagnostic imaging from a safety reporting system using a human factors framework.

May 29, 2019

Reflections on implementing a hospital-wide provider-based electronic inpatient mortality review system: lessons learnt.

November 13, 2019

Identification of doctors at risk of recurrent complaints: a national study of healthcare complaints in Australia.

May 1, 2013

Process of care failures in breast cancer diagnosis.

May 13, 2009

Body of evidence: do autopsy findings impact medical malpractice claim outcomes?

April 29, 2020

Collaboration with regulators to support quality and accountability following medical errors: the communication and resolution program certification pilot.

September 21, 2016

How policy makers can smooth the way for communication-and-resolution programs.

January 29, 2014

Remedies sought and obtained in healthcare complaints.

September 7, 2011

Risk factors for retained instruments and sponges after surgery.

March 6, 2005

Relationship between state malpractice environment and quality of health care in the United States.

April 12, 2017

Communication-and-resolution programs: the challenges and lessons learned from six early adopters.

January 15, 2014

Talking with patients about other clinicians' errors.

November 6, 2013

Association of overlapping surgery with perioperative outcomes.

March 6, 2019

A health system–wide initiative to decrease opioid-related morbidity and mortality.

September 26, 2018

Using the rapid response system to provide better oversight of patient care processes.

November 14, 2007

E-prescribing: a focused review and new approach to addressing safety in pharmacies and primary care.

October 31, 2012

e-Prescribing: characterisation of patient safety hazards in community pharmacies using a sociotechnical systems approach.

July 31, 2013

Retail pharmacy staff perceptions of design strengths and weaknesses of electronic prescribing.

August 1, 2012

Fatigue among clinicians and the safety of patients.

March 6, 2005

Related Resources

Making Healthcare Safer IV: A Continuous Updating of Patient Safety Harms and Practices.

April 3, 2024

Perspective

Cybersecurity and How to Maintain Patient Safety

March 27, 2024

Interview

In Conversation with...Barbara Pelletreau and John Riggi about Cybersecurity

March 27, 2024

Interview

In Conversation With...Stephen Hines, PhD and Monika Haugstetter, MHA, MSN, RN, CPHQ about TeamSTEPPS 3.0

February 28, 2024

Perspective

Revising TeamSTEPPS: The Evolution of Patient Safety Teamwork Training

February 28, 2024

On Patient Safety.

January 13, 2024

A proposed approach to allegations of sexual boundary violation in health care.

December 13, 2023

Fire safety in the operating room.

October 1, 2023

Enhancing patient safety: a national standard for cyber resiliency in healthcare.

September 20, 2023

Global Knowledge Sharing Platform for Patient Safety.

September 20, 2023

Harm Caused by Delays in Transferring Patients to the Right Place of Care.

September 6, 2023

Drug shortages.

August 30, 2023

Maternal Health of Women and Girls of African Descent in the Americas.

July 26, 2023

Racial and ethnic disparities in obstetric and gynecologic care and role of implicit biases.

May 18, 2023

Structural racism in behavioral health presentation and management.

May 17, 2023

Lessons from the Covid War: An Investigative Report.

May 10, 2023

Preventable harm in the Canadian organ donation and transplantation system: a descriptive study of missed organ donor identification and referral.

April 26, 2023

Deficiencies in Emergent and Outpatient Care of a Patient with Alcohol Use Disorder at the Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis, Indiana.

April 19, 2023

Care Delivery within Community Mental Health Teams.

April 5, 2023

Improving safety by evaluating the impact of the supply chain and drug shortages on health-systems.

March 29, 2023

Access to Clinical Information at the Bedside.

March 1, 2023

An infrastructure to provide safer, higher quality, and more equitable telehealth.

March 1, 2023

A systems analysis of work-related violence in hospitals: stakeholders, contributory factors, and leverage points.

February 22, 2023

Production pressure and its relationship to safety: a systematic review and future directions.

January 18, 2023

The impact of meaningful use and electronic health records on hospital patient safety.

November 2, 2022

Patient safety and legal regulations: a total-scale analysis of the scientific literature.

October 19, 2022

Comprehensive Healthcare Inspection Summary Report: Evaluation of Care Coordination in Veterans Health Administration Facilities, Fiscal Year 2021.

October 12, 2022

The Lancet Commission on lessons for the future from the COVID-19 pandemic.

October 12, 2022

Opportunities to Improve Patient Safety, Advancing U.S. Innovation, and Innovation Hubs.

October 5, 2022

Solutions from Professional Regulation and Beyond.

October 5, 2022

See More About The Topic

Hospitals

Health Care Executives and Administrators

Policy Makers

Medicine

Epidemiology of Errors and Adverse Events

Legal and policy interventions to improve patient safety.

Connect With Us

Sign up for Email Updates

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Legal and policy interventions to improve patient safety.

Connect With Us

Sign up for Email Updates

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Submit Your Innovations

Continue as a Guest

Continue Logged In

Submit Your Innovations

Continue as a Guest

Continue logged in

New Users to the PSNet site