A morbidity and mortality conference-based classification system for adverse events: surgical outcome analysis: part...

We hypothesized that an archive database in conjunction with Morbidity and Mortality (M&M) review could be used to define a systematic list of post-surgical adverse events and identify areas for performance improvement.

Adverse event data following surgery were prospectively collected at the Beth Israel Medical Center in NYC from academic, specialty, community hospital, and ambulatory care settings over a 5-year period from September 2000 through April 2005. A classification system and analysis methodology was developed to guide and maximize the effectiveness of M&M review.

A total of 1618 adverse events, including 219 deaths, were analyzed following 29,237 operative procedures according to the analysis method described. A list of 245 adverse events was classified among 15 groups, and a subgroup of 25 adverse events accounted for over 80% of total adverse events. Five categories of adverse events were associated with death in surgical patients and 4 of 5 categories were post-operative events. Used in conjunction with M&M review, data derived from this analysis highlighted those adverse events with the greatest clinical frequency to the department's quality profile.

We present a classification system for surgical adverse events and propose a specific analysis method which may be used in conjunction with Morbidity and Mortality Conference to standardize the profiling of surgical performance.