1 research outputs found
Direct medical costs of adverse events in Dutch hospitals
Background: Various international studies have shown that a substantial number of patients suffer
from injuries or even die as a result of care delivered in hospitals. The occurrence of injuries among
patients caused by health care management in Dutch hospitals has never been studied
systematically. Therefore, an epidemiological study was initiated to determine the incidence, type
and impact of adverse events among discharged and deceased patients in Dutch hospitals.
Methods/Design: Three stage retrospective patient record review study in 21 hospitals of 8400
patient records of discharged or deceased patients in 2004. The records were reviewed by trained
nurses and physicians between August 2005 and October 2006. In addition to the determination
of presence, the degree of preventability, and causes of adverse events, also location, timing,
classification, and most responsible specialty of the adverse events were measured. Moreover,
patient and admission characteristics and the quality of the patient records were recorded.
Discussion: In this paper we report on the design of the retrospective patient record study on
the occurrence of adverse events in Dutch hospitals. Attention is paid to the strengths and
limitations of the study design. Furthermore, alterations made in the original research protocol in
comparison with former international studies are described in detail.