[Dealing with errors in medicine]

Iatrogenic disease is probably more commonly than assumed the consequence of errors and mistakes committed by physicians and other medical personnel. Traditionally, strategies to prevent errors in medicine focus on inspection and rely on the professional ethos of health care personnel. The increasingly complex nature of medical practise and the multitude of interventions that each patient receives increases the likelihood of error. More efficient approaches to deal with errors have been developed. The methods include routine identification of errors (critical incidence report), systematic monitoring of multiple-step processes in medical practice, system analysis, and system redesign. A search for underlying causes of errors (rather than distal causes) will enable organizations to collectively learn without denying the inevitable occurrence of human error. Errors and mistakes may become precious chances to increase the quality of medical care.