Tag: medical errors

Medical Errors Linked to Physician Depression

A new study has linked depressed physicians to an increase in medical errors, further highlighting the need for interventions aimed at bolstering physician well-being.

As the conversation about physician burnout and what to do about it continues steadily on, a new study published in JAMA Network Open has linked depressed physicians to an increase in medical errors.

Researchers from University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor conducted a systematic review and analysis of 11 different studies, which involved more than 21,000 physicians. As a result, they found that physicians who experienced depressive symptoms were 1.95 times more likely to make medical errors than their mentally healthy peers, and that the association between depressive symptoms and perceived errors was bidirectional.

“Given that few physicians with depression seek treatment and that recent evidence has pointed to the lack of organizational interventions aimed at reducing physician depressive symptoms, our findings underscore the need for institutional policies to remove barriers to the delivery of evidence-based treatment to physicians with depression,” the study’s authors wrote. “Investments in patient safety have been associated with significant reductions in health care costs, and the bidirectional associations between physician depressive symptoms and perceived medical errors verified by this meta-analysis suggest that physician well-being is critical to patient safety.”

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Major Medical Errors Linked to Physician Burnout

Medical errors are a major source of inpatient deaths in the United States, and now physician burnout has been linked to a higher risk of medical errors.

Medical errors are a major source of inpatient deaths in the United States, responsible for about 100,000 to 200,000 deaths yearly, and as it has been heavily reported, physician burnout is a national epidemic. But what is the correlation between medical errors and burnout, if any? According to a study led by Stanford researchers and published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings last month, the correlation may be more significant than one might think, as the results have found physician burnout may cause more medical errors than unsafe medical workplace conditions.

The study compiled survey results from 6,695 physicians nationwide, who were asked to respond to 60 questions on topics including fatigue, burnout, thoughts of suicide, and workplace safety.

Of the respondents, 3,574 (55%) reported symptoms of burnout, and 10.5% reported a self-perceived major medical error in the previous three months. Errors were most frequently categorized as an error in judgment (39.2%), a wrong diagnosis (20.0%), or a technical mistake (13.0%), and the highest prevalence of medical errors was reported by physicians working in radiology (23.3%), neurosurgery (21.8%), and emergency medicine (21.4%).

“We found that physicians with burnout had more than twice the odds of self-reported medical error, after adjusting for specialty, work hours, fatigue and work unit safety rating,” the researchers said. “High burnout, even in an excellent safety environment, is nearly as risky as no burnout in a unit that had a poor safety grade.”

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.