title: Chemotherapy Errors: A Call for a Standardized Approach to Measurement and Reporting.
abstract: The Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center is a multidisciplinary cancer center that delivers chemotherapy to 150 to 200 patients daily and adheres to the Oncology Nursing Society and ASCO guidelines for safe chemotherapy administration. An error that occurred at MGH in the summer of 2012 prompted a review of all safety events, the process of classification, and the monitoring of safety events. This article reviews safety monitoring in the oncology setting, details the oncology safety-event reporting program at MGH, summarizes all chemotherapy-related safety events that have occurred over the past 5 years, and concludes with summary recommendations and potential steps to standardize safety reporting and analysis in chemotherapy administration.
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA ilennes@partners.org.
authors.forename: Inga T
authors.initials: IT
authors.lastname: Lennes
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Nie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bohlen
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Elyse R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mort
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: David P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Ryan
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers; D006801:Humans; D008404:Massachusetts; D008495:Medical Oncology / Q000592:standards*; D008508:Medication Errors; D061214:Patient Safety / Q000592:standards; D017064:Process Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D012308:Risk Management / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards