Towards an International Classification for Patient Safety: a Delphi survey
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: Interpretation and comparison of patient safety information have been compromised by the lack of a common understanding of the concepts involved. The World Alliance set out to develop an International Classification for Patient Safety (ICPS) to address this, and to test the relevance and acceptability of the draft ICPS and progressively refine it prior to field testing. DESIGN: Two-stage Delphi survey. Quantitative and qualitative analyses informed the review of the ICPS. SETTING: International web-based survey of expert opinion. PARTICIPANTS: Experts in the fields of patient safety, health policy, reporting systems, safety and quality control, classification theory and development, health informatics, consumer advocacy, law and medicine; 253 responded to the first round survey, 30% of whom responded to the second round. RESULTS: In the first round, 14% felt that the conceptual framework was missing at least one class, although it was apparent that most respondents were actually referring to concepts they felt should be included within the classes rather than the classes themselves. There was a need for clarification of several components of the classification, particularly its purpose, structure and depth. After revision and feedback, round 2 results were more positive, but further significant changes were made to the conceptual framework and to the major classes in response to concerns about terminology and relationships between classes. CONCLUSIONS: The Delphi approach proved invaluable, as both a consensus-building exercise and consultation process, in engaging stakeholders to support completion of the final draft version of the ICPS. Further refinement will occur.
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The ICPS framework is based upon existing classifications such as AIMS, with additional input from international experts in safety, systems engineering, health policy, medicine, and the law.
“The framework is based upon existing classifications such as AIMS, with additional input from international experts in safety, systems engineering, health policy, medicine, and the law.5 28 29”
From An analysis of computer-related patient safety incidents to inform the development of a classification (2010) · cites this paper as [29]
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Towards an International Classification for Patient Safety: key concepts and terms
Runciman, W., Hibbert, P., Thomson, R., Van Der Schaaf, T., Sherman, H., & Lewalle, P. (2009) · International Journal for Quality in Health Care · doi:10.1093/intqhc/mzn057 · Cited by 647 · see citing works
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Towards an International Classification for Patient Safety: the conceptual framework
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Towards an International Classification for Patient Safety: key concepts and terms
Runciman, W., Hibbert, P., Thomson, R., Van Der Schaaf, T., Sherman, H., & Lewalle, P. (2009) · International Journal for Quality in Health Care · doi:10.1093/intqhc/mzn057 · Cited by 647 · see citing works
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Taylor, E. (2020) · HERD: Health Environments Research & Design Journal · doi:10.1177/1937586719887709 · Cited by 316 · see citing works
Towards an International Classification for Patient Safety: the conceptual framework
The World Alliance For Patient Safety Drafting Group, Sherman, H., Castro, G., Fletcher, M., on behalf of The World Alliance for Patient Safety, Hatlie, M., Hibbert, P., Jakob, R., Koss, R., Lewalle, P., et al. (2009) · International Journal for Quality in Health Care · doi:10.1093/intqhc/mzn054 · Cited by 281 · see citing works
Self-citationMagrabi, F., Ong, M.-S., Runciman, W., & Coiera, E. (2010) · Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association · doi:10.1136/jamia.2009.002444 · Cited by 162 · see citing works
Self-citationJabin, M. S. R., Pan, D., & Nilsson, E. (2024) · Frontiers in Digital Health · doi:10.3389/fdgth.2024.1260521 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
- Authors
- Thomson, R., Lewalle, P., Sherman, H., Hibbert, P., Runciman, W., & Castro, G.
- Affiliations
- Newcastle University (GB)
- World Health Organization (CH)
- Joint Commission (US)
- National Patient Safety Agency (GB)
- Royal Adelaide Hospital (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Thomson, R.
- Venue
- International Journal for Quality in Health Care
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2009-02-01
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 9-17
- ISSN
- 1353-4505 (ISSN-L)
- 1464-3677
- PMC
- PMC2638754
- OpenAlex
- W2141531788
- Cited by
- 87
- References
- 12
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 11.74
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- International Journal for Quality in Health Care (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UniSA Research Outputs Repository (University of South Australia) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Adelaide Research & Scholarship (AR&S) (University of Adelaide) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Newcastle University ePrints (Newcastle Univesity)
- Funders
- World Health Organization
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Emergency Medical Services › Patient Safety and Medication Errors
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Delphi Technique in Research
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Medical Coding and Health Information
- Keywords
- patient safety, classification systems, conceptual framework, terminology, expert consensus, stakeholder engagement, patient safety reporting
- MeSH terms
- Concept Formation, Delivery of Health Care, Delphi Technique, International Cooperation, Surveys and Questionnaires, Safety Management, Medical Errors
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