Evidence map›Paper›PMID 12486987›Full record

Trial reportQuality & safety in health care2002

A preliminary taxonomy of medical errors in family practice.

S M Dovey, D S Meyers, R L Phillips, L A Green, G E Fryer, J M Galliher, J Kappus, P Grob

Open access · bronzeAbstract readClinical TrialComparative StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Quality & safety in health care, 2002. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 100 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
100citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
32.8field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

100 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 346 citations in OpenAlex.

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  15. A Patient Safety Toolkit for Family Practices.Journal of patient safety · 2020
    Article
  16. Article
  17. Health Care Provider Factors Associated with Patient-Reported Adverse Events and Harm.Joint Commission journal on quality and patient safety · 2020
    Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Association of GP wellbeing and burnout with patient safety in UK primary care: a cross-sectional survey.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2019
    Article

40 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

S M DoveyRobert Graham Center: Policy Studies in Family Practice and Primary Care, 2023 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036, USA. sdovey@aafp.org
D S Meyers
R L Phillips
L A Green
G E Fryer
J M Galliher
J Kappus
P Grob
Center For Policy Research · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo develop a preliminary taxonomy of primary care medical errors.

designQualitative analysis to identify categories of error reported during a randomized controlled trial of computer and paper reporting methods.

settingThe National Network for Family Practice and Primary Care Research.

participantsFamily physicians.

main outcome measuresMedical error category, context, and consequence.

resultsForty two physicians made 344 reports: 284 (82.6%) arose from healthcare systems dysfunction; 46 (13.4%) were errors due to gaps in knowledge or skills; and 14 (4.1%) were reports of adverse events, not errors. The main subcategories were: administrative failure (102; 30.9% of errors), investigation failures (82; 24.8%), treatment delivery lapses (76; 23.0%), miscommunication (19; 5.8%), payment systems problems (4; 1.2%), error in the execution of a clinical task (19; 5.8%), wrong treatment decision (14; 4.2%), and wrong diagnosis (13; 3.9%). Most reports were of errors that were recognized and occurred in reporters' practices. Affected patients ranged in age from 8 months to 100 years, were of both sexes, and represented all major US ethnic groups. Almost half the reports were of events which had adverse consequences. Ten errors resulted in patients being admitted to hospital and one patient died.

conclusionsThis medical error taxonomy, developed from self-reports of errors observed by family physicians during their routine clinical practice, emphasizes problems in healthcare processes and acknowledges medical errors arising from shortfalls in clinical knowledge and skills. Patient safety strategies with most effect in primary care settings need to be broader than the current focus on medication errors.

Indexed as

ClassificationRisk ManagementAdultAgedClinical CompetenceCross-Over StudiesFamily PracticeFemaleHealth Services ResearchHumansMaleMedical ErrorsMiddle AgedPrimary Health CareUnited States

Identifiers

PMID12486987
PMCPMC1743626
OpenAlexW2108157144

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.