Interorganisational Patient Safety Incident Reports: An Analytical Perspective

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Patient Safety Research
• Interorganizational Collaboration

Background:

• Patient safety incidents represent a significant concern in healthcare delivery.
• Understanding the nature and reporting patterns of interorganizational patient safety incidents is essential for improving care quality.
• Existing systems may not adequately capture or address the complexities of patient safety across different healthcare entities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the types of patient safety incidents reported between healthcare organizations.
• To identify the professional groups involved in reporting these incidents.
• To examine the development measures planned to prevent the recurrence of patient safety incidents.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 1225 interorganizational patient safety incident reports from 2015-2021.
• Descriptive statistical analysis of quantitative data.
• Inductive content analysis of 139 open-ended responses detailing development measures.

Main Results:

• Information flow and management issues constituted the majority (57%) of reported incidents.
• Medication and related therapies were the second most frequent incident category.
• Most reports were from nurses, and a majority of incidents were assessed as low risk; few interorganizational development measures were proposed.

Conclusions:

• Enhanced interorganizational collaboration is vital for seamless information transfer and patient care continuity.
• Regular review of incidents and collaborative, multi-professional planning of preventive measures are necessary.
• Effective dissemination of safety information within and between organizations is key to improving patient care pathways.