Complications in internal medicine. A study for clinical epidemiology and for prevention of medical complications in Swiss hospitals

: The committee of the heads of the swiss hospital departments of internal medicine are conducting a study for the prospective registration of complications of medical interventions in patients treated in hospitals. The objective is the reduction of complications by means of postgraduate and continuing education of the hospital staff and by organisational measures. The kind and number of all the interventions performed in each patient and the respective complications are registered by a means of multiple choice form. With this method the percentage of complications can be calculated for each kind of intervention and therefore is also a contribution to the clinical epidemiology of complications. The data are collected anonymously and regular feedback information on pertinent statistic and casuistic material from all the hospitals is provided to all the participants. The casuistic information is commented on by a group of experts. The results demonstrate that the study is well practicable and from 1998 to 2000 42,000 patients have been evaluated.