Doctors tend to not report errors

U.S. physicians say they often fail to use online error reporting systems designed to improve care because of fear of trouble and embarrassment, a survey says. Dr. Kendra Harris, a Johns Hopkins radiation oncology resident, e-mailed an anonymous survey to physicians, nurses, radiation physicists and other radiation specialists at Johns Hopkins, North Shore, Long Island Jewish Health System in New York, Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Miami about their reporting errors in delivering radiotherapy. The survey indicates more than 90 percent of respondents had observed near-misses or errors in their clinical practice, but the vast majority of these were reported as near-misses as opposed to errors, and, as a result, no providers reported patient harm, Harris said. Few nurses and physicians reported routinely submitting online reports, compared with physicists, dosimetrists (determines radiation doses) and radiation therapists who reported most errors and near-misses. Physicians and residents say they are reluctant to report near misses or errors because of fear of getting colleagues into trouble, liability and embarrassment in front of colleagues. "Reporting is not an end in itself. It helps identify potential hazards, and each member of the healthcare team brings a perspective that can help make patients safer," Harris said in a statement. The findings were presented at the 53rd annual meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology in Miami.