Policies vs Practice of Medical Error Disclosure at a Teaching Hospital in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background

Medical errors are unavoidable in health care institutions. Errors can occur due to multiple reasons, yet communication between health care providers has proven to be the highest. However, policies and programs of medical error disclosure were established to ensure that patients and their family members get the necessary closure. Hence, it is vital to recognize physicians’ awareness of policies and programs related to disclosure practice.

Objective

The objective of this study was to examine factors impacting the awareness of hospital policies and programs and their impact on the actual disclosure of medical errors.

Methods

This was a quantitative cross-sectional study, using a self-administered survey given to 206 physicians from numerous departments at King Fahd Hospital of the University.

Results

The majority of participants were not aware of policies and programs related to disclosure, nor had they disclosed a medical error to patients. There was no statistical significance between policies and programs and the practice of disclosure, yet position level and gender were statistically significantly related to awareness.

Conclusion

Physicians of King Fahd Hospital of the University demonstrated a low awareness rate of the hospital policies and programs regarding disclosure practice. Advanced efforts of hospital leaders need to be made to communicate, train and educate providers about their policies to promote disclosure practice.

Keywords:

• medical errors
• disclosure
• policies
• procedure

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Editage for English language editing.

Abbreviations

US, United States; JCI, Joint Commission International; CBAHI, Central Board for Accreditation of Healthcare Institutions; KFHU, King Fahd Hospital of the University; SPSS, Statistical Package for Social Sciences; IOM, Institute of Medicine; IHI, Institute of Health Improvement.

Data Sharing Statement

The datasets during and/or analyzed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate

Ethical approvals were obtained from the Institutional Review Board at Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University. Written informed consent was provided at the beginning of the survey.

Author Contributions

All authors made substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; took part in drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; gave final approval of the version to be published; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Funding

The authors declare that there is no funding relevant to this work.