Patient safety epidemiological studies

There are two parts to this. One is the epidemiologic error studies that have dominated the medical literature. The second part describes the early organized efforts in patient safety. Researchers and theorists in the safety field have moved beyond a limited conceptualization of safety that focuses solely on counting errors. It is now understood that a focus on hazard and harm is more meaningful. This focus will be introduced in Chapter Three. 

Use an organizationwide data warehouse to study the epidemiology of patients at risk for accidents. The Children s system has plans to analyze patient safety reports for the information they can offer about how characteristics specific to a patient can increase the likelihood of risk-prone conditions in the environment. For example, the data warehouse can track patients ages, diagnoses, and admission times. Thus, if the data show that staff members report more concerns when patients who have complex, multiple diagnoses are admitted on weekends, then protocols and procedures for those patients can be modified to prevent harm. 

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