Reviews of liability claims against surgeons: what have they revealed?

Closed claims reviews are a robust source of severe surgical errors for study. Most errors are preventable. Most preventable technical errors and judgment errors occur during care provided by competent surgeons. Failure to operate within a proper scope-of-practice is the most common cause of incompetence. Patient factors and systems failures, including human factors, cause or profoundly contribute to the cause of most technical errors. Regardless of its cause or preventability, a technical error sets the stage for other errors in care that relate to systems' failures and surgeons' judgment failures. Failed judgment and poor decision-making are usually the result of cognitive errors caused by flawed behavioral practices instead of lack of knowledge. Systems of care and good behavioral practices are catalysts that maximize the power of knowledge and skill to achieve good outcomes. The uniform application of knowledge and skill in a favorable environment is as important as the possession of knowledge and skill. Identifying systems and behavioral causes of errors may help to define best practices and lead to safer patient care through improved systems of care and increased diligent attention to ordinary tasks that require more time than knowledge on the part of surgeons.