[Value of morbidity and mortality review conferences for physician education and improvement of care quality and safety: a literature review].
BACKGROUND
In France, national incentives promote the development of morbidity and mortality conferences (M&MC) in hospitals.


OBJECTIVE
A systematic literature review was performed to investigate the effectiveness of M&MC as well as how they were conducted and how participants experienced them.


METHODS
The review was carried out by searching the MEDLINE and PASCAL databases and included articles in English and French. The following keywords were used: mortality, morbidity, conference, rounds, review, meetings, committee.


METHODS
Two independent reviewers selected all original studies describing or evaluating M&MC and published from 1st January 2002 through 31st December 2008.


RESULTS
We analyzed 17 articles, of which 11 reported structured interviews, 3 analyzed M&MC minutes, 2 monitored indicators, and 1 described observations of M&MC. They showed good physician participation and a wide variety of types of meeting organization. Attendance by paramedical staff, the number of cases covered per meeting, and case selection criteria affected their content. Studies of the efficacy of M&MC were rare and concerned specific topics (digestive endoscopy and childbirth).


CONCLUSIONS
Both the methods and the objectives of studies analyzing M&MC are heterogeneous.


CONCLUSIONS
The published studies viewed M&MC as a valuable tool for physician education and quality assurance, but the factors associated with their effectiveness require further study.
Bal
Gaëlle
G
Unité de qualitique et d'évaluation médicale, CHU de Grenoble, 38043 Grenoble cedex 09, France.
David
Sandra
S
Sellier
Elodie
E
François
Patrice
P
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003226:Congresses as Topic / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005602:France; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D008485:Medical Audit / Q000458:organization & administration; D009017:Morbidity; D009656:North America; D011367:Professional Staff Committees; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012107:Research Design; D012449:Safety; D056164:Teaching Rounds / Q000458:organization & administration; D017749:Total Quality Management / Q000458:organization & administration