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. 2013 Dec 17;13:522. doi: 10.1186/1472-6963-13-522

Table 2.

Definition of potential preventability, potential severity and actual clinical impact

  Categories Definition
Potential preventability [14]
Definitely preventable
NSa
 
Probably preventable
NSa
 
Probably not preventable
NSa
 
Definitely not preventable
NSa
Potential severity [15]
Minor
No injury, nor increased length of stay nor increased level of care.
 
Moderate
Increased length of stay or increased level of care for 1 or 2 patients.
 
Major
Permanent lessening of bodily functioning, disfigurement, surgical intervention required, increased length of stay for 3 or more patients, increased level of care for 3 or more patients.
 
Catastrophic
Death or major permanent loss of function, suicide, rape, hemolytic transfusion reaction. Surgery/procedure on the wrong patient or wrong body part, infant abduction or infant discharge to the wrong family.
Actual clinical impact [16,17]
Preventable ADEb
Injuries resulting from an error at any stage throughout the medication process.
  Near misses Errors detected and intercepted before any harm is done.

aNS: not specified; bADE: Adverse Drug Event.