Planning For Medical Adverse Effects

As much as we’d like to think that we can “get to zero” for all recurring medical errors, mistakes and adverse events will be part of medicine for the foreseeable future. In addition to working on prevention and mitigation of harm, clinicians and healthcare organizations should work on planning for the inevitable, in order to minimize harm and promote healing. Patients and families will benefit, too, if indirectly from these efforts.

Three new resources reflect the experience of clinicians and healthcare organizations following adverse events and offer practical advice and tools to minimize harm for all concerned:

Healing the Healer is a documentary film from CRICO/RMF that uses interviews and case studies to show the emotional impact of adverse events on clinicians. Click here for a preview and ordering information.?

The latest title in IHI’s Innovation Series white papers, Respectful Management of Serious Clinical Adverse Events, is available for free download. This report “introduces an overall approach and tools designed to support two processes: the proactive preparation of a plan for managing serious clinical adverse events, and the reactive emergency response of an organization that has no such plan.”?

In “Doctors Confess Their Fatal Mistakes,” Reader’s Digest presents first-person accounts of serious errors from Peter Pronovost, Eric Cropp, Bob Wachter, and others. The article reflects a sophisticated understanding of patient safety principles and is intended for a broad audience.