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Insurance Claims for Wrong-Side, Wrong-Organ, Wrong-Procedure, or Wrong-Person Surgical Errors: A Retrospective Study
Charles-Hervé Vacheron, Amélie Acker1, Melanie Autran2
1Département d'Anesthésie Réanimation, Hôpital Femme Mère Enfant, Hospices Civils de Lyon.
Journal of Patient Safety
|December 20, 2022
Summary
Serious surgical errors like wrong-site or wrong-person incidents still occur. Analysis of French insurance claims shows a 20% decrease in these preventable errors after checklist implementation.
Area of Science:
- Medical Safety
- Surgical Error Analysis
- Healthcare Claims Data
Background:
- Serious adverse events, including wrong-side, wrong-organ, wrong-procedure, or wrong-person errors, persist despite preventative measures.
- These surgical errors, though rare, have significant consequences for patient safety and healthcare systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze claims related to wrong-side, wrong-organ, wrong-procedure, or wrong-person errors in France.
- To identify trends, involved specialties, risk factors, and outcomes of these surgical errors.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of 219 claims from January 2007 to December 2017.
- Data sourced from a major French medical liability insurance company (Relyens).
- Claims queried using keywords: "wrong side," "wrong organ," and "wrong person."
Main Results:
- Orthopedics, neurosurgery, and dentistry were the most involved specialties.
- Claims primarily involved wrong organ (44%) and wrong side (39%).
- A 20% decrease in annual claims was observed after the mandatory checklist implementation in 2010.
Conclusions:
- Wrong-side, wrong-organ, wrong-procedure, or wrong-person surgical errors are preventable.
- Implementation of a strong safety culture is crucial for eliminating these errors.
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