An Innovative and Integrative Approach to Breaking Down Barriers to Traditional Morbidity and Mortality Conference

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Patient Safety
• Healthcare Systems

Background:

• Morbidity and Mortality (M&M) conferences traditionally induce anxiety when discussing adverse events.
• Children are particularly vulnerable to medical errors, necessitating effective educational tools.

Purpose of the Study:

• To transform M&M conferences into an educational environment focused on system failures.
• To improve participant satisfaction, education, and system process improvement.

Main Methods:

• A survey was developed to gather data on satisfaction, education, and system process improvement.
• Feedback from surveys informed changes, including multidisciplinary forums and prioritizing educational topics.

Main Results:

• Participant satisfaction with M&M conferences increased by 29% over five years.
• Adequacy of addressing process improvement issues saw a 50% increase.
• 100% of faculty reported incorporating M&M learnings into their practice.

Conclusions:

• A hands-on approach to M&M conferences enhances satisfaction and focuses on education and system process improvement.
• This model can be adopted across the medical community to improve adverse event discussions and patient safety.