Harmful medical errors drop after implementing program to improve communication with families

Editor's Note

Harmful medical errors decreased by nearly 38% after implementing a program to improve communication between healthcare providers, patients, and families, finds this study.

A total of 3,106 pediatric patient admissions in seven US hospitals, 2,148 parents or caregivers, 435 nurses, 203 medical students, and 586 residents were involved in an intervention to standardize healthcare provider-family communication on rounds from December 2014 to January 2017.

The overall rate of medical errors was unchanged (41.2 vs 35.8), but harmful errors (preventable adverse events) decreased by 37.9% (20.7 vs 12.9) after the family-centered rounds were implemented. Non-preventable adverse events also decreased from 12.6 to 5.2. Family experience and communication processes improved after implementation.

The researchers say that this study confirms their belief that engaging patients and families in standardized communication improves patient care and safety.