Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33457572›Full record

ArticleJournal of patient experience2020

How Communication "Failed" or "Saved the Day": Counterfactual Accounts of Medical Errors.

Richard L Street, John V Petrocelli, Azraa Amroze, Corinna Bergelt, Margaret Murphy, J Michael Wieting, Kathleen M Mazor

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of patient experience, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Just do it! Ten easy ways to enhance empathy in the consultation.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2024
    Article
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  7. Article
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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

7 authors.

Richard L StreetDepartment of Communication, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7392-9927
John V PetrocelliDepartment of Psychology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.
Azraa AmrozeMeyers Primary Care Institute, a Joint Endeavor of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Reliant Medical Group and Fallon Health, Worcester, MA, USA.
Corinna BergeltDepartment of Medical Psychology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Margaret MurphyPatients for Patient Safety (PFPS), WHO Patients for Patient Safety, Ireland.
J Michael WietingDeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine, Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, TN, USA.
Kathleen M MazorMeyers Primary Care Institute, a Joint Endeavor of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Reliant Medical Group and Fallon Health, Worcester, MA, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Communication breakdowns among clinicians, patients, and family members can lead to medical errors, yet effective communication may prevent such mistakes. This investigation examined patients' and family members' experiences where they believed communication failures contributed to medical errors or where effective communication prevented a medical error ("close calls"). The study conducted a thematic analysis of open-ended responses to an online survey of patients' and family members' past experiences with medical errors or close calls. Of the 93 respondents, 56 (60%) provided stories of medical errors, and the remaining described close calls. Two predominant themes emerged in medical error stories that were attributed to health care providers-information inadequacy (eg, delayed, inaccurate) and not listening to or being dismissive of a patient's or family member's concerns. In stories of close calls, a patient's or family member's proactive communication (eg, being assertive, persistent) most often "saved the day." The findings highlight the importance of encouraging active patient/family involvement in a patient's medical care to prevent errors and of improving systems to provide meaningful information in a timely manner.

Indexed as

patient activationpatient engagementpatient safetyphysician–patient communicationphysician–patient relations

Identifiers

PMID33457572
PMCPMC7786716

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.