National survey of surgical morbidity and mortality conferences.

Full Abstract

BACKGROUND:
Morbidity and mortality conferences historically have been a paramount meeting for education and quality assurance within surgical departments of teaching institutions. The purpose of this survey was to assess the present educational value and the quality assurance aspect of surgical mortality conferences.

METHODS:
Surveys were sent to every academic surgical training program director within the United States and Canada (n = 127) and queried the general format and an individual's experience and attitude toward their institutions conference.

RESULTS:
A total of 546 individuals from 34 institutions returned completed surveys. The survey findings showed that 74% of these surgical departments discussed all deaths and 50% discussed all complications. There was general agreement that surgical morbidity and mortality conferences are of good educational value and effective in reducing future error. The majority of respondents expressed that evidence-based literature should be the primary basis of discussion, with comprehensive presentations that focus on analysis of error.

CONCLUSIONS:
This survey showed that morbidity and mortality conferences are both educational and perceived by the respondents as effective in reducing future error.

Learn Faster Today Improve your study skills

Author information

Author/s: Gore, Dennis C (DC);

Affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Blvd., Galveston, TX 77555, USA. dcgore(-atsign-)utmb.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article

Journal: American journal of surgery (Am J Surg), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-May; vol 191 (issue 5) : pp 708-14

Dates: Created 2006/05/01; Completed 2006/06/01; Revised 2008/11/21;

PMID: 16647366, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article (including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Canada - epidemiology
General Surgery - education
Humans
Medical Errors - mortality; statistics & numerical data

Medical Errors - mortality; statistics & numerical data
Morbidity - trends
Quality Assurance, Health Care - statistics & numerical data
United States - epidemiology

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

Minimizing surgical error by incorporating objective assessment into surgical education. 10 May 2008
Accidental deaths, saved lives, and improved quality. 27 Sep 2005
Inadvertent attachment of a blood pressure device to a needleless IV "Y-site": surprising, fatal connections. 30 Mar 2005
[Medical error: adverse events] 30 Oct 2006
Closed claims studies in anesthesia: a literature review and implications for practice. 30 Jul 2007
To err is human. 25 Nov 2000
Institute of Medicine report. 30 Mar 2000
Breaking the silence on medical errors. 30 Dec 1999
Addressing medical errors: the key to a safer health care system. 28 Feb 2000
How many deaths are due to medical error? Getting the number right. 30 Oct 2000

See 100+ related articles.