A review of patient safety in women's healthcare: why has our progress been so slow?

The rate of improvement in patient safety is slow. The goal of this review is to address the results of a survey of Ob-Gyn physicians regarding important patient safety issues. A sample of 600 obstetricians and gynecologists were sent a survey asking them about their beliefs, activities, problems, and source of information regarding patient safety with a response rate of 53.2%. Results about beliefs and patient safety activities have been reported [Stumpf et al., 2009]. Misdiagnosis (95.6%), failure to follow-up with patients (94.9%), and administration of the wrong medication or dosage of a medication (90.5%) were the most often reported patient safety problems. Obstetricians and gynecologists most often use printed materials, CMEs, journals, and practice guidelines for information regarding patient safety. Ob-Gyns prefer to learn new patient safety information using printed materials and post graduate classes rather than materials on compact disk or online webcasts. A majority of respondents recognize patient safety as an important issue. Education about the importance of patient safety may be a less pertinent topic when compared to the need for education about implementing specific tools for patient safety and moving from awareness to action.