Abstract
Background: There is limited research, and guidance, on how to address safety in general practice proactively.Objectives: This review aimed to synthesize the literature describing the use of patient record review (PRR) to measure and improve patient safety in primary care. The PRR methodologies utilized and the resulting outcomes were examined.Methods: Searches were conducted using Medline, Embase, CINAHL and PsycINFO in February 2017. Reference lists of included studies and existing review papers were also screened. English language, peer-reviewed studies that utilized PRR to identify patient safety incidents (PSIs) occurring in general practice were included. Two researchers independently extracted data from articles and applied the Quality Assessment Tool for Studies with Diverse Designs.Results: A total of 3265 studies were screened, with 15 included. Trigger tools were the most frequent method used for the PRRs (n = 6). The mean number of safety incidents per 100 records was 12.6. Within studies, a mean of 30.6% of incidents were associated with severe harm (range 8.6–50%), and a mean of 55.6% of incidents was considered preventable (range 32.7–93.5%). The most commonly identified types of PSIs related to medication and prescribing, diagnosis, communication and treatment. Three studies reported on improvement actions taken after the PRRs.Conclusion: This review suggests that PRR may be a promising means of proactively identifying patient safety incidents and informing improvements.
Highlights
Despite increased interest in researching patient safety [1], general practice has received little attention in this regard due to a perception that it is relatively low-risk [2,3]
Such errors may be potentially preventable in 45–76% of cases [6], with serious harm occurring to 6–7% of patients [7]. These data emphasize the importance of investigating patient safety incidents (PSIs; defined by the World Health Organization [8] as ‘an unintended event during the care process that resulted, could have resulted, or still might result, in unnecessary harm to a patient’)
The presence of predefined ‘triggers’, i.e. clinical prompts that may indicate the existence of PSIs [24]
Summary
Despite increased interest in researching patient safety [1], general practice has received little attention in this regard due to a perception that it is relatively low-risk [2,3]. Research suggests that 2–3% of general practice consultations may result in adverse events [4], which is concerning given the high volume of patient contacts in these settings [5]. Such errors may be potentially preventable in 45–76% of cases [6], with serious harm occurring to 6–7% of patients [7]. Peer-reviewed studies that utilized PRR to identify patient safety incidents (PSIs) occurring in general practice were included. Three studies reported on improvement actions taken after the PRRs. Conclusion: This review suggests that PRR may be a promising means of proactively identifying patient safety incidents and informing improvements
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