Self-Reporting Systems Improve Patient Safety
Other organizations are also gathering and organizing data around near-miss events
Other professional organizations are following suit. For the past 11 years, both the New York Chapter of the American College of Physicians, or the NYACP, and the New York Special Interest Group of the Associate of Program Directors in Internal Medicine (APDIM-NYSIG) have been working in partnership with the New York State Department of Health to gather and organize data regarding near-miss events.
The nature of the reporting system makes it very effective. Because of its voluntary and anonymous nature done through a web-based program, people feel free to be totally honest and forthcoming with the details of their errors. This allows the health systems to identify their weak points and get some insight into the strengths and challenges of the barriers that protect the patient from a catastrophe. By February 13, 2009, 42 Internal Medicine Training Programs completed the Near Miss Project education program. Four additional institutions committed to offer that training in the following months.
