Medical errors are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. In order to better understand the impact of medical errors on the health of children, the formation of a developmental center for evaluation and research in pediatric patient safety is proposed. Pediatric patient safety issues in diverse settings will be assessed,, including: inpatient and intensive care units at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, the Emergency Department at Children's Hospital Regional Medical Center, the neonatal intensive care unit at the University of Washington Medical Center, private pediatric practices located in urban and rural areas, and outpatient pediatric primary care centers that serve minority populations. A multi-disciplinary team will evaluate data from existing sources as well as develop new systems to assess pediatric patient safety. In addition, surveys and focus groups of pediatricians and pediatric nurses will be used to assess the nature of errors in pediatric medicine and the cultures existing around how these errors are managed. After an initial planning period, one or more pilot projects will be conducted by the developmental center. The overall goal of the developmental center will be to develop programs to reduce, alleviate and prevent medical errors in children. This will be accomplished by analyzing data on medical errors in pediatric patients, developing curricula for health care professionals on pediatric patient safety issues, and rigorously assessing the effectiveness of programs designed to improve patient safety. A three year program is planned.
