Integrating Adverse Event Reporting Into a Free-Text Mobile Application Used in Daily Workflow Increases Adverse Event Reporting by Physicians

Abstract

Adverse event (AE) reporting is a key component of patient safety and physicians are known to underreport. The authors hypothesized that integrating AE reporting into a mobile application used in daily physician workflow would increase physician reporting of AEs. After integrating AE reporting into a free-text mobile application used for daily workflow, the change in AE reporting by physicians was analyzed using Mann-Whitney U tests. AE reporting by physicians increased more than 37-fold (21 to 806; U = 7.5, P < .0001). AE reporting by physicians as a proportion of all AE reports received increased 120-fold (from 0.1% to 12% of all reports, U = 10, P < .0001). Integrating AE reporting into a free-text mobile application used in daily physician workflow markedly increased their reporting of AEs. This approach shifted time burden from physicians to quality officers. Implementation should be coupled with physician education about identifying AEs and content to include in reports.