[Morbidity and mortality conferences in internal medicine--experience at the University Hospital of Cologne]

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Patient Safety
• Internal Medicine

Context:

• Morbidity and mortality (M&M) conferences are standard in US medical training, particularly surgery and anesthesiology.
• Internal medicine adopted M&M conferences later than other specialties.
• No prior reports exist on M&M conferences in German internal medicine departments.

Purpose:

• To establish a monthly M&M conference in the Department I of Internal Medicine at the University Hospital of Cologne.
• To create a confidential forum for discussing patient adverse events, unexpected deaths, complications, and medical errors.
• To identify and address systemic issues without assigning blame.

Summary:

• A monthly Morbidity and Mortality (M&M) conference was initiated in August 2010 in the Department I of Internal Medicine, University Hospital of Cologne.
• The conference facilitates open discussion of patient cases involving unexpected deaths, complications, or medical errors.
• Discussions focus on identifying structural problems to improve patient care and serve as a medical education tool.

Impact:

• Fosters an open, non-punitive environment for discussing medical errors.
• Leads to the identification of systemic issues, driving direct improvements in patient care.
• Enhances medical education by providing real-world case study discussions.