Patient safety in ambulatory care

Understanding of the types and frequency of errors among children in the outpatient setting is paramount. The most commonly described errors involve medical treatment, communication failures, patient identification, laboratory, and diagnostic errors. Research suggests that adverse events and near misses are frequent occurrences in ambulatory pediatrics, but relatively little is known about the types of errors, risk factors, or effective interventions in this setting. This article will review current information on the descriptive epidemiology of pediatric outpatient medical errors, established risk factors for these errors, effective interventions to enhance reporting and improve safety, and future research needs in this area.