A Causal Model to Design more Effective Policies and Practices in Error Management in the Healthcare Industry

Abstract

Background: Identification of the factors contributing to the errors of medical staff and examining the causal relationships among those factors can help better manage and design more effective policies and practices. Objectives: This study aimed to identify the causes and factors affecting medical error management and determine a model for better management of such errors. Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted in two qualitative and quantitative phases. In the quantitative part of the study, the factors related to medical error management were identified and validated through reviewing previous studies and interviewing some specialists. Following that, the fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation method was used for structural modeling of the factors and investigating the causal relationships among them in the quantitative part. Results: In this study, the results showed that the "education and learning from error" subfactor had the most significant impact on the system. The second highly effective subfactors in the management of medical errors were "organizational communication and improved information access", "safety culture and climate", and "policies, procedures, and guidelines". In addition, the "safety culture and climate" was the most important factor that had the most critical impact on the system. Moreover, the "handoff conversations and communication" subfactor was mostly influenced by the other factors, followed by the "incident reporting system", "error prevention and corrective measures", "safety culture and climate", and "individuals' participation". Conclusions: According to the results of this study, the health care industry should take into consideration both organizational and individual factors in error management. In order to achieve better planning and higher performance in error management, increase patient safety, and ultimately improve the quality of hospital services, it is suggested to consider the causes and factors affecting the system.