Harmful medical errors can cause serious damage to a patient’s health and may result in a medical malpractice suit for the physician. However, a study published in BMJ outlines an intervention method that proved to significantly reduce harmful medical errors in institutions where it was implemented.

Patients or family members can sue a physician or hospital over a number of errors, including failure to accurately diagnose or treat illness, or even errors in patient management, according to the American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys.

Improved communication between physicians, nurses, and patient families may reduce the incidence of harmful medical errors and perhaps lower the risk of malpractice claims. Researchers tested an intervention designed to do exactly this in seven academic hospitals throughout North America and found that their intervention reduced the incidence of harmful medical errors by nearly 40%, without increasing the average time for morning rounds with each patient.

“Our study highlights what we in Pediatrics have always suspected—that including patients and families in shared decision-making during rounds not only increases patient and family satisfaction, but also improves patient safety,” said co-author Army Maj. Jennifer H. Hepps, MD, associate professor, Department of Pediatrics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU), primary investigator, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC), and director, National Capital Consortium Transitional Internship Program, Bethesda, MD.

According to a study done in 2016 by researchers from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 10% of all US deaths are due to medical errors. Furthermore, the third highest cause of death in the United States is medical errors. In addition, statistic show that approximately 15,000 to 19,000 medical malpractice suits are filed each year, and researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, found that most medical doctors will face a lawsuit during their professional careers. Consequently, any strategy or plan to reduce medical errors would be welcomed.

Medical errors are a significant cause of mortality and patient harm, and faulty communications can be significant contributing factors to errors. Dr. Hepps and colleagues, therefore, hypothesized that improved communications between physicians, nurses, and families may improve the overall understanding of patients and their conditions among team members.

Thus, USU and WRNMMC researchers developed the intervention, called the Patient and Family Centered I-PASS, in conjunction with the Patient and Family Centered I-PASS Study Team. Morning rounds, typically done outside of patients’ rooms each day to review care plans and with minimal patient involvement, were the focus. Family engagement, structure communications, and health literacy, with minimal medical jargon became the emphasis during rounds between doctors, nurses, and patient families.

Researchers conducted the study in the general pediatric inpatient units of seven academic hospitals in North America from December 2014 to January 2017. The 9-month intervention was comprised of changes to both verbal and written communications during morning round reviews.

This study was supported by the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute.

This story is contributed by Liz Meszaros and is a part of our Global Content Initiative, where we feature selected stories from our Global network which we believe would be most useful and informative to our doctor members.