Incidence and Characteristics of Adverse Events: The 2024 Patient Safety Incidents Inquiry in Korea.

backgroundIn accordance with Article 7-2 of the Patient Safety Act, the Ministry of Health and Welfare conducts a Patient Safety Incident Inquiry every 5 years to support patient safety policy. This study aimed to describe the methodology and main findings of the 2024 Patient Safety Incident Inquiry.

methodsTen Accountable Care Hospitals (five tertiary and five general hospitals) participated. From each hospital, 500 patients discharged in 2021 were randomly selected. A standardized three-stage retrospective medical record review was conducted: first-stage screening by nurses or health information managers, second-stage review and reporting of suspected adverse events by physicians or nurses, and final adjudication by a central expert committee.

resultsOf 5,000 patients, 2,208 (44.2%) met one or more the screening criteria. Following adjudication in the third review stage, confirmed adverse events were identified in 565 patients (11.3%), resulting in 612 confirmed adverse events. The most common type was patient care-related events (37.3%), followed by medication-/fluid-/blood-related (36.1%) and surgery-/procedure-related (26.8%) events. Temporary harm requiring intervention accounted for 62.4% of adverse events, and 3.6% of patients died. Prolonged hospitalization was associated with 36.3% confirmed adverse events, and 28.3% were classified as preventable. Variation in the incidence of confirmed adverse events across institutions was observed.

conclusionUsing a standardized three-stage medical record review, the 2024 Patient Safety Incident Inquiry provides updated descriptive baseline data on confirmed adverse events across tertiary and general hospitals in Korea. These findings may support institutional patient safety improvement efforts and inform national patient safety planning.