7 0 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 7
SURGICAL
ERRORS
W
hen we ask why a medical error happened, it's
easy to settle for the first answer. Because some-
one was distracted. Or someone was tired. Or
because we were behind and felt pressure to
hurry. But answers like those typically just scrape
the surface. If you want to make sure an error doesn't happen again,
you need to keep digging. Why was that person fatigued? Why were
we behind? Is there something here that we can control? Is there an
Digging Deeper to
Reduce Medical Errors
If you don't reach the root cause, you're not likely to
solve the problem.
Spence Byrum | Weston, Fla.
• LEARNING FROM MISTAKES Unless you get to the bottom of why a mistake happened, you're likely to repeat the mistake.
Kelley
Balcomb-Bartok
