Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Nov 10;106(1):106.
doi: 10.5334/jbsr.2897. eCollection 2022.

The Use of Medical Imaging Request Forms as Trigger Tools to Detect Intra-Hospital Adverse Events: A Pilot Study

Melody Saikali  1 , Marin Halut  2 , Antoine Saab  1 , Bruno Vande Berg  3 , Nicolas Michoux  2 , Charbel Mourad  1
Affiliations

The Use of Medical Imaging Request Forms as Trigger Tools to Detect Intra-Hospital Adverse Events: A Pilot Study

Melody Saikali et al. J Belg Soc Radiol. .

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the contribution of medical imaging request forms as trigger tools to detect patient adverse event (AE) occurring during hospitalization.

Material and methods: This is a retrospective study in a single institution. Between January and June 2019, the hospital information system (HIS) was fetched for request forms of radiological examinations performed for inpatients >48 hours after the admission date. The investigated request forms were: Doppler ultrasound of the upper limbs, Doppler ultrasound of the lower limbs, and the repetition of three consecutive requests of chest radiographs within 24 hrs, to detect upper or lower limb venous thrombosis, or AEs related to the respiratory system, respectively. Patients' medical charts and radiological examinations were evaluated to document the presence or absence of an AE. The frequencies of AEs in the three groups of trigger tools were compared to corresponding control groups, matched according to age, sex and length of stay.

Results: Among a total of 2798 hospital admissions during the study period, there were 74 files triggered by the three types of radiological request forms. There were 6/24 AE (25%) related to upper limb venous thrombosis, 4/33 (12.1%) AE related to lower limb venous thrombosis, and 6/17 (35.3%) AE related to the respiratory system. For all the trigger tools, the frequency of AE in the study groups was significantly higher than that in the control groups.

Conclusion: Medical imaging requests could be used as potential trigger tools to detect adverse events related to hospital stay.

Keywords: Doppler ultrasound; adverse events; chest radiographs; trigger tools.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no competing interests to declare.

Figures

Flowchart summarizing the selection of triggered charts and control group. LOS: Length of Stay; TTUL: Trigger tool Upper Limb Venous Doppler Ultrasound; TTLL: Trigger Tool Lower Limb Venous Doppler Ultrasound; TTCR: Trigger Tool Chest Radiograph
Figure 1
Flowchart summarizing the selection of triggered charts and control group. LOS: Length of Stay; TTUL: Trigger tool Upper Limb Venous Doppler Ultrasound; TTLL: Trigger Tool Lower Limb Venous Doppler Ultrasound; TTCR: Trigger Tool Chest Radiograph.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Health Quality & Safety Commission New Zealand. The Global Trigger Tool – A Practical Implementation Guide for New Zealand District Health Boards; 2012.
    1. Makary MA, Daniel M. Medical error—the third leading cause of death in the US. BMJ. 2016; 2; 353: i2139. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.i2139 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Saikali M, Tanios A, Saab A. Evaluation of a broad-spectrum partially automated adverse event surveillance system: A potential tool for patient safety improvement in hospitals with limited resources. J Patient Saf. 2021; 1; 17(7): e653–64. DOI: 10.1097/PTS.0000000000000442 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Amalberti R, Gremion C, Auroy Y, et al. Les systèmes de signalement des évènements indésirables en médecine. Etudes Résultats. 2007; 1: 584.
    1. La Prévention Médicale. Les systèmes de signalement [Internet]. 2020. Available from: https://www.prevention-medicale.org/formations-outils-et-methodes/method....

LinkOut - more resources