Why not put adverse events right in patient charts?

I’m a second year medical student at the University of Missouri, and I’m currently working at an internal medicine practice in St Louis. I’d like to share a recent patient safety story with you.

The patient was an elderly gentleman who had been a long time patient of the doc I’m working with. He had a heart attack a few years ago and has been seeing a cardiologist since then. He recently began experiencing chest pain on exertion, so he went to the cardiologist for an angiogram and possibly angioplasty. He needed two stents.

He had an appointment with us about a week after his angioplasty, and I reviewed the cardiologist’s report before interviewing him. After reading a summary of his blocked arteries and location of the stents, I was shocked (in a good way!) to see this addition at the end: “Adverse event–catheter pierced a small coronary… Continue reading →