title: Health care provider use of private sector internal error-reporting systems.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to review the state of the art of private sector internal error-reporting systems and to begin to develop a classification system for comparing systems. Interviews were conducted to research and examine 9 systems currently on the market. Analysis resulted in the following observations: (1) 7 of the systems are stand-alone, while 2 are part of larger hospital information systems; (2) most of the systems have been in existence for less than 5 years; (3) acute care hospitals are the primary clients; (4) systems are capable of interfacing with other information systems and root-cause analysis programs; and (5) systems are browser based and accessible via the Internet and/or the provider's intranet. Additional studies are needed to determine the impact of these systems on health outcomes. However, one fact is clear: tracking incidents will not improve patient safety unless administrators close the feedback loop on quality.
authors.affiliation: Cephalon Inc., 41 Moores Road, PO Box 1411, Frazer, PA 19355, USA. aroumm@cephalon.com
authors.forename: Adam R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Roumm
authors.forename: Christopher N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Sciamanna
authors.forename: David B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Nash
mesh_terms: D003628:Database Management Systems; D006751:Hospital Information Systems / Q000145:classification*; D006801:Humans; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017149:Private Sector / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012308:Risk Management / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration*; D018511:Systems Integration; D013673:Technology Assessment, Biomedical; D014481:United States