%0 Journal Article
%T To what extent are adverse events found in patient records reported by patients and healthcare professionals via complaints, claims and incident reports?
%A Ingrid Christiaans-Dingelhoff
%A Marleen Smits
%A Laura Zwaan
%A Sanne Lubberding
%A Gerrit van der Wal
%A Cordula Wagner
%J BMC Health Services Research
%D 2011
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1472-6963-11-49
%X We conducted a retrospective study using a database from a record review study of 5375 patient records in 14 hospitals in the Netherlands. Trained nurses and physicians using a method based on the protocol of The Harvard Medical Practice Study previously reviewed the records. Four reporting systems were linked with the database of reviewed records: 1) informal and 2) formal complaints by patients/relatives, 3) medico-legal claims by patients/relatives and 4) incident reports by healthcare professionals. For each adverse event identified in patient records the equivalent was sought in these reporting systems by comparing dates and descriptions of the events. The study focussed on the number of adverse event matches, overlap of adverse events detected by different sources, preventability and severity of consequences of reported and non-reported events and sensitivity and specificity of reports.In the sample of 5375 patient records, 498 adverse events were identified. Only 18 of the 498 (3.6%) adverse events identified by record review were found in one or more of the four reporting systems. There was some overlap: one adverse event had an equivalent in both a complaint and incident report and in three cases a patient/relative used two or three systems to complain about an adverse event. Healthcare professionals reported relatively more preventable adverse events than patients.Reports are not sensitive for adverse events nor do reports have a positive predictive value.In order to detect the same adverse events as identified by patient record review, one cannot rely on the existing reporting systems within hospitals.For hospital managers and healthcare providers involved in patient safety issues it is important to have access to patient safety data to facilitate decisions on interventions aimed at improving the quality and safety of hospital care. Ideally there is real-time information about patient safety, capturing incidents that reflect actual or potential risks of a
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6963/11/49