OT02 - Quality and Timing Identified as Most Common Diagnostic-related Incidents in Small Animal Veterinary Care

Abstract: Background
Veterinary care can be complicated, and like with any healthcare, there are risks of unintentional harm. Rising expectations from pet owners, combined with the humanization of pets, may further increase complexity. Effective diagnostics are vital to identifying appropriate treatment procedures and evaluating therapies. There is a need to expand the understanding of diagnostic-related incidents to identify risks and facilitate improvements. This study explored the most common types of diagnostic-related incidents and their severity by analyzing incident reports.


Methods
Descriptive statistical analysis was utilized to characterize key features in incident reports relating to diagnosis recorded between April 2018 and December 2021. The reports were gathered through a company-specific voluntary reporting system in 63 small animal practices in mainland Europe.


Results
A total of 322 incident reports were analyzed, of which 62% (n = 201) for dogs, 36% (n = 116) for cats, 1% (n = 3) for rabbits and 1% (n = 2) for birds and exotics. The majority, 59% (n = 189) did not result in patient harm. Of the remaining incidents, 24% (n = 77) resulted in temporary harm, 6% (n = 20) in permanent harm and 11% (n = 36) in patient death. Most commonly harm was caused when the diagnostics were incompletely or inadequately performed or because they were not performed when indicated.


Conclusion
These findings suggest what type of diagnostics-related incidents impose the most risk and thereby may inform further exploration of where to focus improvement initiatives.