Medical error

A medical error is a preventable failure in the process of healthcare, whether or not it causes harm. It can arise in diagnosis, treatment, prevention, or communication.

Diagnostic error: A failure to establish an accurate and timely explanation of a patient's health problem. Diagnostic mistakes occur when evidence is missed, misinterpreted, or not followed up.
Patient safety: The prevention of harm to patients during the delivery of healthcare. Medical errors are a central target of patient-safety work.
Medical malpractice: A legal claim that a healthcare professional's negligent care caused injury. An error is not automatically malpractice; legal negligence and harm must be established.
Medication reconciliation: The process of comparing medication lists across transitions in care to identify discrepancies. It reduces errors when patients move between clinicians or care settings.
To Err Is Human: A 1999 U.S. National Academies report that brought the scale of preventable medical harm to public attention. Its findings helped make medical error a national policy and safety concern.
Medication error: A preventable mistake in prescribing, dispensing, administering, or monitoring a medication. Medication use crosses multiple handoffs where a preventable failure can occur.
Adverse event: An injury or complication associated with medical care rather than the underlying disease. An error may cause an adverse event, though not every adverse event involves error.
Adverse drug reaction: A harmful, unintended response to a medicine taken at normal doses. A drug reaction can occur despite correct prescribing and administration.
Electronic health record: A digital record of a patient's health information maintained by healthcare providers. Decision support and order entry can prevent some errors while introducing new risks.
Institute of Medicine: A former U.S. nonprofit organization that advised government on health and medicine, now part of the National Academies. It commissioned the report that reframed preventable harm as a system-level problem.

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