title: Avoiding Medical Errors in Cutaneous Site Identification: A Best Practices Review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although the field of dermatology has a relatively low incidence of medical errors, dermatologic surgery is a major area where medical errors occur.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this article is to catalog the many cutaneous site identification techniques used by practitioners and determine which techniques are most evidence based.
  
  
  METHODS
  A comprehensive literature review of cutaneous surgical site identification techniques and medical errors in dermatology.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Wrong-site surgery often occurs because of an inability to identify the surgical site because of factors such as inadequate documentation from referring physicians, well-healed scars obscuring the biopsy site, and a patient's inability to visualize the surgical site. Practitioners use techniques such as photography, dermabrasion, written descriptions using anatomic landmarks, and site identification protocols for surgical site identification.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Site identification remains a challenge for dermatologists and is a leading cause of medical errors in this field. Patients are often unreliable in their ability to identify biopsy sites; therefore, practitioners must take a proactive role to ensure that medical errors do not occur. This article provides a thorough description and evaluation of current site identification techniques used in dermatology with the aim to improve quality of care and reduce medical errors.
authors.affiliation: *University of Massachusetts Medical School Worchester, Massachusetts; †Mohs Surgery Unit, Group Health, Cincinnati, Ohio; ‡Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School and UMass Memorial Health Care, Worcester, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: St John
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: Dori
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Goldberg
authors.forename: Mary E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Maloney
mesh_terms: D019985:Benchmarking; D062109:Dermatologic Surgical Procedures / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011300:Preoperative Care; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery