Barriers and facilities in reporting medical errors: A systematic review study

Abstract

Introduction: The medical error report is known as the basis for patient safety measures. To increase the frequency of error reporting, it is important to identify selection barriers and remove them over time. We aimed to review the barriers and facilities of medical errors reporting. Materials and Methods: A systematic review was conducted on the English and Persian documents published throughout a 10-year period (2010–2020) in PubMed/Medline, Science Direct, Web of Science and Google scholar databases. All documents were assessed for eligibility by titles or abstracts according to the search strategy. The screening process was conducted by two independent authors. The selected articles were checked regarding inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: In total, 231 relevant studies were searched in 2010–2020, and after evaluating the full text of the article, 28 full-text articles were opted in accordance with the eligibility criteria, and finally, 22 full-text articles were reviewed systematically. According to the studies that were analysed, the most common obstacle was the reporting fear of individual and legal charges among health-care personnel. The majority of clinical staff suggested using anonymous reporting systems, modifying the 'blame' culture and the unsuitable behaviour of managers to prevent reporting barriers. Conclusion: Based on the up-to-date information on barriers to medical error reporting by the staff, suggestions are made to address the barriers. Efforts to create an effective reporting system will be appropriate for patient care. Furthermore, the correct behaviour of managers will be very effective in dealing with employees' errors and training.

Keywords

• barriers
• facilities
• medical errors
• review