Obstetrician-gynecologists' opinions about patient safety: costs and liability remain problems; are mandated reports a solution?

Background: To elucidate the patient safety practices of obstetrician-gynecologists (OB/GYNs), the perceived barriers to patient safety improvements in obstetrics and gynecology, and OB/GYN's beliefs about mandated reporting.

Methods: A sample of 600 OB/GYNs was sent a survey from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists about their beliefs and practice regarding patient safety.

Results: The response rate was 53.2%. More than 92% of respondents said that patient safety is important in women's health care. The most important barriers to improving patient safety were cost of new technologies and concern about liability. Half agreed that mandatory reporting would improve patient safety. Physicians who practice in states with mandated error reporting were no more or less likely to think that these mandates improve patient safety than physicians who do not work in states with mandates. Physicians who practice in states with "I'm Sorry" laws more strongly disagreed that mandates improve patient safety than physicians who do not work in states with "I'm Sorry" laws.

Discussion And Conclusions: It may be effective to aim at making patient safety activities more affordable to increase implementation. In addition, the effects of reporting and disclosure laws on physicians' concerns with liability should be examined more closely.