Journal of Pharmaceutical Care & Health Systems
Open Access

Abstract

An Experience Feedback Committee for Improving Medication Process Safety: An Observational Study in a Hospital Pharmacy Department

Alban Caporossi, Etienne Brudieu, Audrey Lehmann, Arnaud Seigneurin and Patrice François

Study objective: An experience feedback committee (EFC) is a management method for patient safety designed for a medical team. The aim of this study was to analyse the functioning of an EFC in a hospital pharmacy department and to explore its contribution to medication process safety. Design: We conducted a transversal, observational study based on the analysis of all the written documents produced by the EFC between January 2012 and December 2013. Setting: The study was conducted in the pharmacy department at Grenoble University Hospital in France.
Measurements: We analysed all the documents related to incidents reported, the reports of meetings and the reports of event analysis. Patient outcomes (degree of harm) were assessed according to the Conceptual Framework for the International Classification for Patient Safety. The main outcome was the corrective actions decided by the EFC.
Main Results: During the study period, there were 22 meetings attended by a total of 59 professionals including seven pharmacists. A total of 320 incidents were analysed. Most of them (92%) had no medical consequence for the patient. Twenty-two incidents were selected to be thoroughly analysed. One hundred and ten corrective actions were carried out including 32 training sessions, 32 guidelines written, 32 changes in organisation, nine changes in equipment and five changes in another category.
Conclusions: The EFC is an attractive method to involve healthcare professionals in quality and safety management.