Multidisciplinary analysis of invasive meningococcal disease as a framework for continuous quality and safety improvement in regional Australia.

Background: System factors in a regional Australian health district contributed to avoidable care deviations from invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) management guidelines. Traditional root cause analysis (RCA) is not well-suited to IMD, focusing on individual cases rather than system improvements. As IMD requires complex care across healthcare silos, it presents an opportunity to explore and address system-based patient safety issues.

Invasive meningococcal disease--improving management through structured review of cases in the Hunter New England area, Australia.

Introduction: Invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is the most common infectious cause of death in childhood in developed countries. This disease may cause severe disability or death if a patient is sub-optimally managed. An audit was performed in Australia of all 2005-06 notified IMD cases to elicit correctable issues.