ECRI Institute Researchers Evaluate Results of Surgical Safety Checklist Implementation

Surgical safety checklists represent promising initiatives with suggestive evidence for improving patient safety, but future research is needed to clarify the unique nature of their contribution and provide insights for effective implementation, concludes a study published in the April 2014 issue of BMJ Quality and Safety. Researchers from ECRI Institute conducted a search of four databases from January 1, 2000, to October 26, 2012, and identified 33 articles describing actual use of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist, the SURgical PAtient Safety System (SURPASS) checklist, a wrong-site surgery checklist, or an anesthesia equipment checklist.