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BackgroundLack of time, lack of familiarity with root cause analysis, or suspicion that the reporting may result in negative consequences hinder involvement in the analysis of safety incidents and the search for preventive actions that can improve patient safety.ObjectiveThe aim was develop a tool that enables hospitals and primary care professionals to immediately analyze the causes of incidents and to propose and implement measures intended to prevent their recurrence.MethodsThe design of the Web-based tool (BACRA) considered research on the barriers for reporting, review of incident analysis tools, and the experience of eight managers from the field of patient safety. BACRA’s design was improved in successive versions (BACRA v1.1 and BACRA v1.2) based on feedback from 86 middle managers. BACRA v1.1 was used by 13 frontline professionals to analyze incidents of safety; 59 professionals used BACRA v1.2 and assessed the respective usefulness and ease of use of both versions.ResultsBACRA contains seven tabs that guide the user through the process of analyzing a safety incident and proposing preventive actions for similar future incidents. BACRA does not identify the person completing each analysis since the password introduced to hide said analysis only is linked to the information concerning the incident and not to any personal data. The tool was used by 72 professionals from hospitals and primary care centers. BACRA v1.2 was assessed more favorably than BACRA v1.1, both in terms of its usefulness (z=2.2, P=.03) and its ease of use (z=3.0, P=.003).ConclusionsBACRA helps to analyze incidents of safety and to propose preventive actions. BACRA guarantees anonymity of the analysis and reduces the reluctance of professionals to carry out this task. BACRA is useful and easy to use.

During the first semester of 2020-2021, classes for Linear Circuit Analysis subjects (Mechanical Engineering Degree, Miguel Hernandez University of Elche, Spain) were taught in a dual way because of the COVID-19 pandemic: students were able to attend in-person or online, as long as the in-person attendance limit was not surpassed. The same strategy was used for exams: each student decided whether to take the exam in-person or online. Specific software tools were used for the in-advance seat reservation and simultaneous online and in-person class attendance, and examination tools and strategies, with a special emphasis on avoiding online cheating. Online attendance was preferred by students (averaging 64.9% of global attendance for lectures and 84.5% for exams), with abrupt increases during the worst episodes of the pandemic. Video recordings of the lectures were made available to all of the students, with the most viewed video being accessed over 200 times. Concerning evaluation, no statistically significant differences were found between in-person or online average examination marks (p = .133), which may be an indicator of low online cheating. Student feedback showed their satisfaction with the dual teaching strategy, despite their initial doubts at the beginning of the course.

BackgroundAdverse events are a reality in clinical practice. Reducing the prevalence of preventable adverse events by stemming their causes requires health managers’ engagement.ObjectiveThe objective of our study was to develop an app for mobile phones and tablets that would provide managers with an overview of their responsibilities in matters of patient safety and would help them manage interventions that are expected to be carried out throughout the year.MethodsThe Safety Agenda Mobile App (SAMA) was designed based on standardized regulations and reviews of studies about health managers’ roles in patient safety. A total of 7 managers used a beta version of SAMA for 2 months and then they assessed and proposed improvements in its design. Their experience permitted redesigning SAMA, improving functions and navigation. A total of 74 Spanish health managers tried out the revised version of SAMA. After 4 months, their assessment was requested in a voluntary and anonymous manner.ResultsSAMA is an iOS app that includes 37 predefined tasks that are the responsibility of health managers. Health managers can adapt these tasks to their schedule, add new ones, and share them with their team. SAMA menus are structured in 4 main areas: information, registry, task list, and settings. Of the 74 users who tested SAMA, 64 (86%) users provided a positive assessment of SAMA characteristics and utility. Over an 11-month period, 238 users downloaded SAMA. This mobile app has obtained the AppSaludable (HealthyApp) Quality Seal.ConclusionsSAMA includes a set of activities that are expected to be carried out by health managers in matters of patient safety and contributes toward improving the awareness of their responsibilities in matters of safety.

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