Incentivizing Trainees to Participate in Safety Reporting
In a new study in the Journal of Graduate Medical Education, patient safety leaders from across Duke Health teamed up to address the issue of under- reporting of healthcare safety events.Safety event reporting is a valuable tool used to formally record a patient safety concern so that it can be reviewed and addressed properly, improving the quality of care delivered in healthcare facilities.
In particular, the study notes, trainees accounted for only 0.5% of all safety event reports prior to the study’s start. As the next generation of providers, the researchers wanted to find a way to get trainees to be more engaged in reporting safety events and instill in these new medical professionals the value of the reports.
Using a financial incentive program, the researchers were able to dramatically increase the percentage of reports from trainees. With the financial incentive in place, the percentage of trainees submitting reports jumped up to 7% – from just 74 reports a year to nearly 1,300. Over 500 trainees across 37 graduate programs received incentives for reporting safety events.
