A concurrent surgical miniaudit procedure: use of generic outcome screening criteria to detect anesthesia and other...

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Quality Improvement
• Patient Safety
• Surgical Outcomes

Background:

• Incomplete incident reporting of adverse events in the operating suite was identified at Cottonwood Hospital.
• This underreporting poses a risk to patient safety and quality improvement initiatives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and implement a procedure to improve the reporting of adverse events in the operating room.
• To enhance the capture of surgery and anesthesia-related incidents.

Main Methods:

• A concurrent surgical miniaudit procedure was created with anesthesia department collaboration.
• The audit utilized 14 generic outcome screening criteria to detect adverse perioperative events.

Main Results:

• The implementation of the new miniaudit procedure led to a significant increase in incident reporting.
• Reporting rates for surgery and anesthesia-related adverse incidents were markedly improved.

Conclusions:

• The developed concurrent surgical miniaudit procedure is effective in enhancing the reporting of perioperative adverse events.
• This improved reporting can contribute to better patient safety and quality management in surgical settings.