International Journal of Information Management 29 (2009) 15–26 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect International Journal of Information Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijinfomgt Information management of medical errors in Greece: The MERIS proposal Athanassios Vozikis ∗ University of Piraeus, Department of Economic Science, 80 Karaoli & Dimitriou Street, 18534 Piraeus, Greece article info Keywords: Medical errors Patient safety Information management Information systems abstract There is a substantial amount of public concern about patient safety, as, according to estimates from major studies, hundreds of thousands die in hospitals each year all over the developed world as a result of medical errors that could have been prevented. Unprecedented research commissioned by the EU has found that almost one out of every four families has experienced a serious medical error. Greek citizens concerning about serious medical errors in the hospital environment, were at the top of the list. Greek Ombuds- man’s report on medical errors has raised the debate among health policy makers as to the appropriate response to the problem. Proposals range from the implementation of nationwide mandatory reporting with public release of performance data, to voluntary reporting and quality-assurance efforts that pro- tect the confidentiality of error-related data. Any successful safety program will first require a national effort to make significant investments in information systems, along with providing an environment and education that enables to contribute to an active quality improvement process. In this paper we propose the development and implementation of Medical Error Reporting Information System (MERIS), in order to identify, collect, analyse and report medical errors and patient adverse events, as a tool for enhancing patient safety and health care quality. We also describe the necessary organisational structure and the infrastructure environment of the system and the barriers to its successful implementation. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction For years, experts have recognized that medical errors exist and compromise health care quality, but the response to the 30 November, 1999, release of the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) report, “To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System”, brought medical errors to the forefront of public attention (IOM, 1999). In March 2001, the second IOM report, “Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century”, was pub- lished (IOM, 2001). The ‘chasm’ report extends the findings of the ‘error’ report to other important dimensions of healthcare quality. The reports concluded that the majority of these errors were the result of systemic problems rather than poor performance by indi- vidual providers, and outlined a four-pronged approach to prevent medical mistakes and improve patient safety. Much has been written worldwide about medical errors and improvements in their reporting and handling since then. Recently, the Eurobarometer survey, which was released by the European Commission (EC, 2005) found that almost half of those ∗ Tel.: +30 210 4142280; fax: +30 210 4142301. E-mail address: avozik@unipi.gr. surveyed said that hospital patients should be worried about being victims of medical errors. In this paper we propose the development and implementation of Medical Error Reporting Information System (MERIS), in order to identify, collect, analyse and report medical errors and patient adverse events, as a tool for enhancing patient safety and health care quality. We also describe the necessary organisational structure and the infrastructure environment of the system and the barriers to its successful implementation. In detailed, in chapters 1 and 2, the definitions, classifications and epidemiology and root causes of adverse events and medical errors are given. In chapters 3 and 4, the measurement process and tools, as well as the underreporting factors of medical errors are presented. In chapters 5, the research agenda for medical errors reporting is presented and the role of Information Technology in adverse events and medical errors reporting is described: In chapter 6, policy issues and the formation of a national strat- egy for the development of MERIS is analysed. In chapter 7, the characteristics and the content of MERIS are described in detail. Finally in chapter 8, conclusions of MERIS successful implemen- tation are drawn and additional/parallel strategies on patient safety are proposed. 0268-4012/$ – see front matter © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2008.04.012