2007/03/22 by Caprice C. Greenberg, Scott E. Regenbogen, David M. Studdert +4 · 1 citation
Health Professions · Medicine · #Hospital Admissions and Outcomes #Patient Safety and Medication Errors #Patient-Provider Communication in Healthcare
paper · doi:10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2007.01.010
openalex publication_date 2007/03/22 · crossref created 2007/03/22 · crossref issued 2007/04/01 · crossref published 2007/04/01 · crossref published-print 2007/04/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref deposited 2026/07/24 · crossref indexed 2026/07/30 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
BACKGROUND: Communication breakdowns are a common threat to surgical safety, but there are little data to guide initiatives to improve communication. STUDY DESIGN: In surgeon-review of 444 surgical malpractice claims from 4 liability insurers, we identified 60 cases involving communication breakdowns resulting in harm to patients. Two surgeon-reviewers analyzed these cases to identify common characteristics and associated factors. Based on identified patterns, potential interventions to prevent communication breakdowns were developed and their potential impact was assessed. RESULTS: The 60 cases involved 81 communication breakdowns, occurring in the preoperative (38%), intraoperative (30%), and postoperative periods (32%). Seventy-two percent of cases involved one communication breakdown. The majority of breakdowns were verbal communications (92%) involving 1 transmitter and 1 receiver (64%). Attending surgeons were the most common team member involved. Status asymmetry (74%) and ambiguity about responsibilities (73%) were commonly associated factors. Forty-three percent of communication breakdowns occurred with handoffs and 39% with transfers in the patient's location. The most common communication breakdowns involved residents failing to notify the attending surgeon of critical events and a failure of attending-to-attending handoffs. Proposed interventions could prevent 45% to 73% of communication breakdowns in this cases series. CONCLUSIONS: Serious communication breakdowns occur across the continuum of care, typically result from a failure in verbal communication between a surgical attending and another caregiver, and often involve ambiguity about responsibilities. Interventions to prevent these breakdowns should involve: defined triggers that mandate communication with an attending surgeon; structured handoffs and transfer protocols; and standard use of read-backs.