Information management of medical errors in Greece: The MERIS proposal

Abstract

There is a substantial amount of public concern about patient safety, as, according to estimates from major studies, hundreds of thousands die in hospitals each year all over the developed world as a result of medical errors that could have been prevented. Unprecedented research commissioned by the EU has found that almost one out of every four families has experienced a serious medical error. Greek citizens concerning about serious medical errors in the hospital environment, were at the top of the list. Greek Ombudsman's report on medical errors has raised the debate among health policy makers as to the appropriate response to the problem. Proposals range from the implementation of nationwide mandatory reporting with public release of performance data, to voluntary reporting and quality-assurance efforts that protect the confidentiality of error-related data. Any successful safety program will first require a national effort to make significant investments in information systems, along with providing an environment and education that enables to contribute to an active quality improvement process. In this paper we propose the development and implementation of Medical Error Reporting Information System ( MERIS), in order to identify, collect, analyse and report medical errors and patient adverse events, as a tool for enhancing patient safety and health care quality. We also describe the necessary organisational structure and the infrastructure environment of the system and the barriers to its successful implementation.