Frankfurt error reporting and
learning system for general practitioners
Every error counts
Voluntary and anonymous error reporting systems are an important tool for improving patient safety and have already proven their worth in other industries such as aerospace. Since September 2004, the Institute of General Practice in Frankfurt has provided family practices with an error reporting and learning system. The system gives physicians and medical assistants the opportunity to report incidents which they hope "will never happen again" on a shared forum on the internet. On average, more than 8,500 people a month visit the web pages of www.jeder-fehler-zaehlt.de.
- Termed error of the month, particularly interesting reports give users the opportunity to comment in depth on errors others have made and to learn from their mistakes.
- Error reports and important advice on the causes of errors and on error avoidance are regularly published in a number of German medical journals (ärztemagazin, info praxisteam [link], praxisnah [link].
- An error report databank [link] contains all incoming error reports. Research into specific error reports is possible here.
- In the tips on error avoidance section [link], we summarize important measures that can help prevent users from making errors.
- A newsletter [link] in email form can be subscribed to in which we tell users about the "error of the month", the "tips on error avoidance" and provide other important information concerning patient safety.
www.jeder-fehler-zaehlt.de is expressly supported by the German Society of General Practice and Family Medicine (DEGAM), the Austrian Society of General Practice (ÖGAM), the German Association of Healthcare Assistants VMF and the 108th German Medical Assembly 2005.
Contact
- Tatjana Blazejewski [Contact]