Mayo Clinic's commitment to quality and safety is best summarized in the words of one of Mayo Clinic's founders, Dr. William J. Mayo, who said "The best interest of the patient is the only interest to be considered."

Long before Minnesota's Adverse Health Events Reporting Law was passed in 2003, Mayo Clinic reviewed cases in which an unanticipated outcome occurred. Mayo Clinic was among the first medical centers to review unanticipated outcomes and develop preventive measures to reduce the potential for recurrences.

Today, Mayo Clinic's commitment to internal review is even stronger. Mayo Clinic is working to prevent adverse events by constantly reviewing and improving processes and procedures.

Mayo Clinic's goal is to never have one of these events happen in Mayo facilities, and to contribute to preventing errors in the wider medical community by training Mayo's future health care providers and sharing improvements that could be used to prevent errors.

Mayo Clinic's teams perform thousands of operations each year and see hundreds of thousands of patients.

Unfortunately, in very rare cases, an adverse event does occur. Because Mayo's main concern is for the patient, the first thing Mayo staff do in response to an unintended event is meet the immediate medical needs of the patient.

Mayo staff then discusses with the patient and family members what happened and what could be done to reverse or alleviate any negative consequences. Mayo Clinic believes that open and honest communication about these events is crucial in maintaining trust with Mayo patients.

Mayo Clinic staff takes great pride in the care they provide, and staff has worked hard to develop measures to keep errors from happening.

April 23, 2014

Original article: https://www.mayoclinic.org/about-mayo-clinic/quality/event-reporting