The study “Patient Safety in Outpatient Care” was commissioned by the University of Marburg to investigate the health situation of adults aged 40 and over and their outpatient care by general practitioners and specialists. For this purpose, 10,000 randomly selected persons were interviewed by telephone throughout Germany. The respondents were asked about patient safety incidents (PSI) of the past 12 months in the following areas:
- Medical examinations
- Outpatient surgeries
- Vaccinations, injections or infusions
- Medication
- Aftercare
- Practice organization
- Other
Where a PSI was reported, details of the physician group involved, the consequences of the PSI, and how it was managed were obtained. In addition, PSIs with harmful consequences since the age of 40 were queried.
