Assessment of the Use of Patient Vital Sign Data for Preventing Misidentification and Medical Errors.

Patient misidentification is a preventable issue that contributes to medical errors. When patients are confused with each other, they can be given the wrong medication or unneeded surgeries. Unconscious, juvenile, and mentally impaired patients represent particular areas of concern, due to their potential inability to confirm their identity or the possibility that they may inadvertently respond to an incorrect patient name (in the case of juveniles and the mentally impaired).