ABSTRACT
Since the release of the report "To Err is Human" by the American Institute of Medicine (IOM) the subject "Medical Risks, Errors and Patient Safety" has gained increasing interest in literature. In Germany, neither extensive statistics nor generally significant epidemiological studies regarding common errors associated with damages caused to patients' health exist. In recent years the subject has become increasingly interesting both in specialist discussion and it the lay press; it has become evident that the different use of terms, especially those originating from the Anglo-Saxon language, can lead to misunderstandings. Hence, as one of the first steps of its action programme, the expert panel "Patient Safety" of the German Agency for Quality in Medicine has compiled a glossary of technical terms to provide adequate support to the discussion this important subject of nomenclature.
Subject(s)
Medical Errors/prevention & control , Safety Management/organization & administration , Terminology as Topic , Germany , Humans , Psycholinguistics , Public Relations , Quality Assurance, Health Care/organization & administrationABSTRACT
Quality management systems had originally been designed for industrial purposes and were hardly applicable for small enterprises, there have been adjustments to the two main applications EFQM and ISO enabling utilisation also in ambulatory care. There are also different approaches like the Dutch Visitatiae concept which reflects the needs of GP's and is based on peer exchange. The presented paper gives an overview of existing quality management and certification systems and presents an instrument for evaluation. This checklist was developed by an interdisciplinary expert panel of the Agency for Quality in Medicine and serves as an aid for users and graders of quality management systems with regard to the feasibility of these systems.
