title: Reducing medical errors and adverse events.
abstract: Medical errors account for ∼98,000 deaths per year in the United States. They increase disability and costs and decrease confidence in the health care system. We review several important types of medical errors and adverse events. We discuss medication errors, healthcare-acquired infections, falls, handoff errors, diagnostic errors, and surgical errors. We describe the impact of these errors, review causes and contributing factors, and provide an overview of strategies to reduce these events. We also discuss teamwork/safety culture, an important aspect in reducing medical errors.
authors: Department of Emergency Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21231, USA. jpham3@jhmi.edu
authors: Julius Cuong
authors: JC
authors: Pham
authors: Monica S
authors: MS
authors: Aswani
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Rosen
authors: HeeWon
authors: H
authors: Lee
authors: Matthew
authors: M
authors: Huddle
authors: Kristina
authors: K
authors: Weeks
authors: Peter J
authors: PJ
authors: Pronovost
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology