According to a meta-analysis published on April 15 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, poor communication is a major cause of patient safety incidents. Researchers at the University of Leicester reviewed 46 studies examining whether communication failures contributed to safety events — including adverse events, near misses, medical errors, and medication errors. The studies involved data from 67,826 patients across Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. Most of these studies were done in hospitals.
Of the 46 studies, 42 explored poor communication alongside other contributing factors. In those, poor communication contributed to 24% of safety incidents. Four studies found that poor communication was the sole cause of 13% of safety incidents. The studies looked at communications between clinical staff; clinical staff and nonclinical staff, such as laboratory professionals; and clinical staff and patients/caregivers.
Examples of error-contributing factors included the following:
· Unclear lab results
· Rushed explanations to patients
· Miscommunications between a clinical staff member and a pharmacist
The reviewers concluded that more research is needed to develop effective interventions.
