Objective To provide information for the establishment of a medical risk monitoring and precaution system in China, by reviewing and analyzing the current status of medical risk management system and preventative measures in New Zealand, Methods We searched EI (1969-2006), SCI and SSCI (1975-2006), EMBASE (1966-2006), SCOPUS (included 100% MEDLINE) (1960-2006), VIP (1989-2006), CNKI (1979-2006) and relevant official and governmental websites. This search was conducted in January 2006 and articles about medical risk management and prevention were collected. Results We included 10 articles involving medical adverse events, patient safety and medical litigation. New Zealand took many measures in order to prevent medical error and improve medical quality, including strengthening medical practice standards, doctor-patient communication, safety awareness and promoting informationization of hospitals. New Zealand also revised “The Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act” and improved medical litigation to form an appropriate law environment. Conclusions New Zealand has taken many measures and established a medical risk management system to prevent medical risk. Some issues of particular relevance to China include building corresponding medical litigation and relevant laws and regulations.
Objective To comprehensively compare the methods and tools for medical risk management and assessment in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia and Taiwan region (hereafter shortened as “four countries and one region”), so as to provide evidence and recommendations for medical risk management policy in China. Methods The official websites of the healthcare risk management agencies in these four countries and one region were searched to collect materials concerning healthcare risk management and monitoring, such as laws, regulatory documents, research reports, reviews and evaluation forms, then the descriptive comparative analysis was performed on the methods and tools for risk management. Results a) A total of 146 documents were included in this study, including 2 laws, 17 regulatory documents, 41 guidelines, 37 reviews and 49 documents about general information; b) The United Kingdom applied the integrated risk management; Australia and Taiwan adopted the classical risk management process, including risk identification, risk analysis, risk evaluation and risk control, while the United States and Canada mainly chose the prospective failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) for clinical risk management; c) The severity of clinical risk was divided into five grades in the United Kingdom and Australia, and six in Taiwan, respectively. The frequency of medical risk was divided into five grades with four grade responses in above two countries and one region; and d) There were almost the same processes and tools about Root Cause Analysis (RCA), but a little difference in the objects of analysis in these four countries and one region. Conclusion?There are three models of risk management with the same assessment tools in these four countries and one region: the prospective risk assessment, the retrospective assessment based on occurred incidents and the integrated risk management. Although the grading of risk is similar, the definition of grading is different in the United Kingdom, Australia and Taiwan. The methods and processes of analyses on the adverse events are almost the same in these four countries and one region.
The artificial ventilation system is a multi-factor system with some high uncertain risks which should be under controlled by medical risk management of hospitals. The key suggestions for reducing the accidence caused by ventilator are recommented： 1 ） to clarify the risk factor of ventilators, 2 ） to set up management group of ventilators with a clinical engineer who is good at management and quality control of medical equipment on ventilators, 3 ） to develop ventilator clinical practice for safety use, 4 ） to explore the effective risk monitoring and early warning system and mechanism on ventilator application.
This article introduced the structure and features of the medical safety and quality management system of New South Wales (NSW) of Australia. The system was funded by government with overall design, multi-sectors involvement, and explicit roles of government, hospitals, and independent third parties. The system also developed national and state-wide regulations, policies, standards and their certification. The NSW Health Incident Information Management System (IIMS), the guidelines and interventional programs were also established to decrease the medical risk and ensure the healthcare quality. This system will be used for reference to the national medical risk and quality management system of China.
Objective To analyze experiences of medical risk management in the United Kingdom so as to explore the possible application for the construction of a Chinese medical risk monitoring and early warning system. Methods We searched Engineering Information, SCI and SSCI, EMBASE, SCOPUS with 100% MEDLINE, VIP, CNKI, and government or official websites. This search was conducted in Jan. 2006. We included articles about medical risk, patient safety and medical errors in the UK. Languages of articles were limited either in English or in Chinese. Results Eleven articles were included, of which 9 article are evidence of level B (about 80%) and the other 2 are evidence of level C (about 20%). The report of “An Organization with a Memory” revealed the severity of medical errors and adverse events in the UK in 2000, and subsequently Minister Blair announced a five-year reform program for NHS. Within 7 years of reform, NHS budget has been increased from £33 billion to £674 billion,(check numbers-doesn’t sound correct) the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) and the New National System for learning from adverse events and near misses have been established, a series of practicable measures aimed at ensuring patient safety, preventing medical risk and improving healthcare quality have been implemented, all of which have effectively resolved many problems that perplexed the government and public, such as patients waiting time, range of NHS service, the availability of medical facility and mortality induced by high-risk diseases. Conclusion There are both advantages and disadvantages in the present status of the UK medical risk management. Both of them will provide a guide to prevent medical risk, improve healthcare quality and to realize the ultimate goal that everybody could share healthcare sources fairly and safely in our country.
Objective To provide reference for medical risk management by systematically reviewing the hterature on aviation risk management abroad. Methods We searched the SCOPUS database and related websites, and handsearched related journals, for literatures on the history, experience, and models of aviation risk management, and their relationship to medical risk management. Rationale and method of evidence-based science were used to appraise and analyze the included hterature. Results Aviation and medical industry were both with the characteristics of high technology, high risk, and high professional. The aviation risk management system including the unique information reporting system, risk analyzing tools and models covered the whole process of information collecting, analyzing and managing, and with the emphasis on systematical construction. Conclusions Medical risk management in China should base on its own characteristics, taking the following experiences from aviation risk management into account： （1） establishing incident and shght ~fistake reporting system, with management mechanism and legal support. Pilot experiments should be practiced in high-risk department; （2） developing a training model hke Crew Resources Management（ CRM）, emphasizing non-technical skills training; （3） reinforcing staff and environment management for the control of human-origin risk; （4） constructing database for better information collection and analysis, developing and using perspective analyzing tools; （5） assessing the safety culture of medical organization with the tools used by aviation industry, and taking the experience of aviation safety culture construction.
ObjectiveTo provide some basic data for studies in the future on the prevention of medical disputes by exploring its patterns and reasons. MethodsFifty-five processed medical disputes cases accepted between 2012 and 2014 were retrospectively analyzed for their patterns and causes. ResultsThe number of males in the medical disputes was higher than that of females (male: 60.0%, female: 40.0%), and patients at the age of 40-70 also led in the disputes (aged 40-50: 20.0%, aged 50-60: 18.2%; aged 60-70: 20.0%). There were more medical disputes in the department of cardiology (20.0%), orthopedics (16.4%), otolaryngology (12.7%), and gynecology (10.9%). ConclusionThere are differences in gender and age of the patients as well as departments in terms of medical disputes. We should try to discover the regular patterns of these disputes. Besides those existing medical indexes, we should establish other warning systems through psychological and sociological status of medical staff and patients for reducing medical disputes, which can surely help the administration of medical quality intervention on medical disputes.
Objective To provide reference for medical risk management by evidence-based evaluation of the status of coal-mining risk management in China. Methods We searched databases of EI (1969 to 2005), SDOS (1995 to 2005), Vip (1989 to 2005), Wanfang (up to 2005), and CNKI (1994 to 2005), as well as some official websites, for English and Chinese articles related to coal-mining safety, risk management, precaution, and response to mine disasters in China. Results Total of 19 articles, including 9 official documents, 4 research articles, and 6 expert comments were included. Recently the number of coal-mining disasters has declined in China, but still much larger than that in US. The safety status of small coal mines (90% of total coal mines in China) was much more severe. The response and precaution system of coal mining disaster in China was poor. Conclusion Medical service in China may take the following measures based on lessons from coal mining industry to improve its risk management: ① Strengthen the management of small clinics (68.24% of total medical organizations in China); ② Train doctors and nurses to upgrade their perception of medical risk; ③ Establish self-report system of medical malpractices, errors, and accidents.