Examining the Factors Influencing Patient Safety Incident Reporting Among Healthcare Professionals in Ethiopia’s Public Hospitals

In August 2021, a study was done in public hospitals in the Hadiya zone of Ethiopia, which is in the South Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region. Researchers asked 345 healthcare workers about how they report patient safety incidents and what affects their reporting. About 94.4% of them responded. Information was collected using questionnaires based on hospital safety surveys.

The study showed that only 28.7% of healthcare workers reported patient safety incidents. This shows a big problem with underreporting, even though such incidents can harm patients as noted by the World Health Organization’s definition of patient safety incidents.

Several things were found to affect how often people reported incidents. Understanding these can help hospital managers improve reporting, lower harm, and make care better.

Factors Influencing Reporting Behavior

Role of Professional Category: Nurses as Key Reporters

Nurses were much more likely to report patient safety incidents than other health workers. The odds ratio was 5.48, which means nurses were more than five times as likely to report than others.

This may be because nurses work at the front lines of patient care and are often present in care units. They watch and manage treatments closely, giving them important knowledge about safety issues. For U.S. healthcare managers, this shows how important it is to include nurses in patient safety efforts and give them training and clear ways to report.

Impact of Job Training on Reporting

Healthcare workers who had on-the-job training about patient safety were almost three times more likely to report incidents. Training helps workers understand why reporting is important. It also gives them the skills and confidence to do it.

U.S. healthcare leaders can learn from this by offering regular training that explains how and why to report incidents. Teaching staff about policies and the effects of reporting can help increase reporting.

Team Presence and Communication Openness

Teams that worked well together reported nearly three times more incidents. Also, when teams shared information openly, reporting rates went up by a similar amount.

This means that workplaces where team members support each other and can talk openly about safety tend to have more reporting. U.S. healthcare owners and IT managers should find ways to encourage team work and clear communication. This could include regular meetings about safety and using digital tools that let staff report incidents easily, sometimes even anonymously.

Management Support as a Key Driver

Support from hospital leaders or unit managers made reporting more likely. Workers who felt their leaders supported reporting were 2.8 times more likely to report.

Fear of punishment from administration stops many workers from reporting. In the Ethiopian study, fear of sanctions kept people from sharing information. In the U.S., managers can change this by treating incident reporting as a way to learn, not blame. Clear policies that prevent punishment and show management support can build trust and increase reporting.

Barriers to Reporting

Two main problems stopped people from reporting. They thought reporting would take too much time and worried about punishment. These fears made workers avoid reporting incidents.

U.S. healthcare leaders can help by making reporting faster and easier. They should also explain that workers won’t face punishment for reporting. Using simple and quick tools will encourage more people to report.

The Role of AI and Workflow Automation in Enhancing Incident Reporting

AI-Driven Front-Office Phone Automation and Answering Services

In the U.S., healthcare systems focus more on patient safety. Using AI tools and automating tasks can help reduce underreporting and delays in reporting.

For example, some companies make AI-based phone systems for medical offices. These systems can handle many calls about appointments, questions, and safety reports. AI can sort calls quickly, so safety issues get to the right team faster.

Using AI tools helps providers get reports right away and send important information to safety teams without delays. This lowers the chance of missing or delaying reports caused by manual work.

Streamlining Reporting Workflow with AI

Manual reporting takes time and effort, which makes some staff avoid it. AI can help by asking guided questions or using data that is already stored. It can also extract needed information from notes or voice reports to fill in parts of reports and save time.

Automation can send incidents to the right department or manager based on how serious they are. This helps make sure the reports are checked quickly. This also lowers the work burden and may help reduce worries about the time it takes to report.

Enhancing Communication Openness and Support with AI Tools

Good communication is very important, but healthcare workers are often busy and spread out. Secure AI messaging and shared dashboards help workers share information freely, ask questions, and offer ideas.

AI can also give feedback or safety summaries to all staff without naming individuals. This helps build a culture where people learn together instead of blaming each other.

Supporting Management with Data Insights

Managers who support safety have a higher rate of reporting. AI analytics can give leaders clear reports about incidents, trends, and reporting patterns. This helps managers see where to focus efforts and show they care about safety.

U.S. healthcare managers can use these AI tools to show improvements, prioritize training, and check how well safety programs work.

Implications for U.S. Healthcare Practice Administrators, Owners, and IT Managers

Even though the Ethiopian study focused on public hospitals there, the lessons apply to U.S. healthcare too. Many U.S. places, especially small or busy clinics, also struggle with underreporting because of limited staff and time.

Medical practice leaders in the U.S. should consider these practical ideas:

• Invest in Continuous Training
  Give regular, easy-to-access patient safety training. This will stress why reporting matters, help reduce confusion about how to report, and build confidence.
• Promote Team-Based Communication
  Support teamwork within units or departments. Regular safety talks and group work improve reporting.
• Develop Clear Management Policies Supporting Reporting
  Leaders should make clear that reporting will not lead to punishment. Recognize those who report and show what actions are taken to encourage more people to report.
• Address Barriers to Reporting
  Simplify the reporting process to save time and clearly explain protections against punishment. Easy-to-use tools help improve reporting.
• Incorporate AI and Workflow Automation
  Use AI technology and automation like phone and workflow systems to reduce delays, increase data accuracy, and make reporting easier.
• Use Data Analytics for Monitoring and Improvement
  Apply data tools that analyze incident reports and provide useful information to leaders. This helps safety efforts improve over time.

By following these ideas, U.S. healthcare workers can improve how they report patient safety incidents, leading to better care and stronger safety habits.

Patient Safety Incident Reporting: A Global Challenge with Universal Signs

The Ethiopian study shows that many countries face the same problems with safety incident reporting: fear of punishment, lack of time, and weak support. Nurses are the main reporters. Training, teamwork, and open communication help create a habit of reporting. When leaders support these actions openly, reporting increases.

For U.S. healthcare leaders, using these approaches along with new AI and automation tools offers a way to improve patient safety. As healthcare gets more complex, mixing human work, organization, and technology will be needed to give safer care to all patients.