Errors of Care Omission Survey (ECOS)

This technology is a comprehensive survey for self-reporting errors of omission by nurse practitioners and physicians in the primary care setting.

Unmet Need: Standardized system for self-reporting incidences of missed care by primary healthcare professionals

In primary healthcare, critical omissions, or errors due to lack of action by a primary care provider (PCP), represent a significant percentage of errors that may give rise life-threatening complications. Given the complex and multifactorial nature of omission errors, these events go largely unreported. Failure to report missed care not only limits the ability of policymakers to address issues but also is a lost opportunity for training PCPs to improve healthcare practices. At present, there are no systematic means for reporting errors of omission in the primary care setting that incorporates points of view from both nurse practitioners and physicians.

The Technology: Survey-based evaluation of omission errors in primary care

This technology is a comprehensive survey system for measuring errors of omission in primary healthcare. Events are self-reported by PCPs and thus, the responses incorporate the perspectives of both nurse practitioners and physicians, enabling a more nonbiased assessment of an event. With simple and concise language, this system may be adapted to many primary care settings. Through organized data collection, errors may be compiled into a database that can be used for training PCPs across disciplines, increasing the quality of care at a systemic level.

This technology has been trialed in approximately 600 primary care physicians across New York State for psychometric testing.

Applications:

• Assessing errors of omission in primary care practices, out-patient care, and rehabilitation centers
• Training tool for physicians and nurse practitioners

Advantages:

• Non-biased assessment of reported errors
• Self-report system
• Clear and concise language
• Increased reporting enables better training for higher quality care
• Organized data collection for database entry

Lead Inventor:

Lusine Poghosyan, Ph.D.

Related Publications:

• Poghosyan L, Norful AA, Ghaffari A, Liu J. “Psychometric Testing of Errors of Care Omission Survey: A New Tool on Patient Safety in Primary Care” J Patient Saf. 2019 Mar 1.

Tech Ventures Reference:

• IR CU19132

• Licensing Contact: Joan Martinez