Elsevier

Dental Abstracts

Volume 61, Issue 4, July–August 2016, Page e103
Dental Abstracts

The Big Picture
Measuring patient safety interventions

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.denabs.2016.03.011Get rights and content

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Background

Reports indicating that more people die as a result of medical error than from motor vehicle accidents brought the problem of patient safety in health care situations to the forefront. Most patient contact occurs in primary care settings, making them a prime target for reducing patient safety issues. Tools to maintain or improve patient safety in dental situations were evaluated in the literature to identify those that have the potential to be effective in ensuring a safe environment for

Methods

A literature review was undertaken seeking studies that identified and assessed tools or interventions to maintain or improve patient safety during dental care. Outcome measures included patient safety, harm prevention, risk minimization, patient satisfaction, patient acceptability, professional acceptability, efficacy, cost-effectiveness, and efficiency. Nine studies met the criteria from the academic literature; none were found in the grey literature search.

Results

The tools identified in the nine studies were checklists, reporting systems, electronic notes, and trigger tools. The four studies that reported the use of checklists were observational studies. One used a correct site surgery checklist in which 100% compliance with the tool was associated with no wrong tooth extractions in the 24 months when it was used. Another noted a decrease in wrong tooth/wrong site surgery from 5 over 2 years to none in 1 year after implementation. The checklist approach

Discussion

The evaluation of dental tools to help in creating a safe patient environment is in its infancy. As a result, dental researchers and researchers in other fields must work together to develop approaches that are likely to improve patient safety. The data on adverse events should be reviewed to identify priority areas for patient safety. Guidelines can then be developed (Table 3).

Clinical Significance

Tools are needed to improve patient safety in dental situations. They will require a more

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Bailey E, Tickle M, Campbell S, et al: Systematic review of patient safety interventions in dentistry. BMC Oral Health 15:152, 2015

Reprints available from E Bailey, NIHR Greater Manchester Primary Care Patient Safety Translational Research Ctr, Inst of Population Health – Ctr for Primary Care, Univ of Manchester, 7th floor, Williamson Bldg, Manchester M13 9PL, UK; e-mail: [email protected]

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