What contributes to internists' willingness to disclose medical errors?

Area of Science:

• Medical Safety
• Health Care Policy
• Physician Behavior

Background:

• The 'To err is human' report highlighted the importance of medical safety and error disclosure.
• Physician disclosure of medical errors is a critical component of patient safety initiatives.
• This study investigates factors influencing internists' willingness to report medical errors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the role of background and social psychological factors in internists' willingness to report medical errors.
• To identify barriers and facilitators influencing medical error disclosure among physicians.

Main Methods:

• A survey was conducted among a random sample of internists and internal medicine residents in five Dutch teaching hospitals.
• Data were collected from 115 participants, yielding a 51% response rate.

Main Results:

• Willingness to disclose medical errors correlated with error severity; most near misses were unreported to hospital leadership.
• Errors were more frequently reported to colleagues than to formal reporting systems.
• Motivation, behavioral control, and social barriers significantly related to error disclosure.

Conclusions:

• Addressing personal and social factors is essential to stimulate medical error disclosure.
• Creating a routine, non-judgmental, and safe environment for discussing errors is vital for improving reporting.
• Emphasis on individual barriers is needed to enhance the adequate reporting of medical errors.