Skip to main content
. 2021 Oct 6;78(2):159–170. doi: 10.1007/s00228-021-03213-x

Table 2.

Main classes of detection methods for medication-related adverse events and most important advantages and disadvantages related to them. GTT = global trigger tool

Method specifications Incident reporting Direct surveillance Computerized monitoring
Examples of used methods

Voluntary reporting

Claims data

Chart reviews

Patient interviews

GTT tool

ICD-10 detection

Advantages

Reports in structured form

Data is easily gathered

Promotes culture of safety

Cost-effective

Easy to execute

Accurate

Captures active errors and events

Wide impact

Good detection rates

Multidata-source integration

Real-time method

Enables ADE prevention

Good detection rates

Efficient use of electronic data on entire organization level

Limitations

Underreporting

only allows retrospective analyses

Variable quality of reports

Blame culture

Costly

Time-consuming

Requires trained personnel for every unit where executed

Inserted errors

Poor triggers

Alert fatigue

Requires expert assessment for actions to triggers