Dermatological patient safety: Problems and solutions

Abstract

Background: Patient safety issues are the forefront of delivering effective quality healthcare. The fast pace and high volume of dermatology practice presents an opportunity for new research on error prevention and patient safety. Objective: To identify areas of concern in patient safety to introduce starting points for new improvement projects in dermatology. Methods: A literature search was performed using the PubMed database with the search terms ‘patient safety’ and ‘quality of care’. The articles were categorized into three topics concerning patient safety research: safety in treatment and procedures received; safety issues related to facility infrastructure; and human resource management. Results: Many issues identified as healthcare shortcomings such as wrong site surgery, patient misidentification, specimen errors, medication errors, communication failure, poor teamwork, healthcare worker management defects, and facility safety design problems were discussed in the literature. Each of these requires exploration with new safety initiatives for resolution. A limitation included omitting pieces on occupational health and safety that could contribute to overall patient safety. Our search also included only data from one database. Conclusions: Patient safety is an ever-evolving process requiring continuous attention by practicing physicians including dermatologists, healthcare staff, patients, and research scholars to discover and implement new safety initiatives for overall healthcare improvement.