Our May 3 blog post discussed the widespread preventable medical error and acts of medical malpractice that regularly occur in hospitals across the United States. Today's post highlights a program that is lauded by many and promises a much lower rate of medical mistakes if it is implemented in medical facilities throughout the country.

Described by researchers as a "better measurement system to assess how we are doing in patient safety," the Global Trigger Tool ("GTT") employs experienced medical reviewers operating outside immediate hospital environments who examine hospital records for errors. Because the GTT takes more time and resources than do other voluntary error-report systems, its proponents say that it much more accurately identifies hospital mistakes. The immediate upside of that is that errors can be fixed and patient safety enhanced.

Despite the added effort required, study research indicates that the GTT can integrate easily into existing hospital systems.

"A number of people believe a tool like this should become a standard measure of safety in U.S. hospitals," says study lead researcher Dr. David C. Classen. Count Classen as one of them, who calls other error-reporting systems "dramatically inferior" to the GTT. In the study Classen was involved in, the tool discovered medical errors pursuant to scrutiny of about 800 patient records at a rate about 10 times higher than other commonly employed methods.

An independent study reviewer noted this: "It's not a surprise that a method based on careful chart abstraction by knowledgeable reviewers would do a much better job in tracking adverse events."

Related Resource: My Central Jersey, "Are hospital errors on the rise?" May 2, 2011