Surgical safety checklist drops deaths and complications by more than one-third

A group of hospitals in eight cities around the globe has successfully demonstrated that the use of a simple surgical checklist during major operations can lower the incidence of deaths and complications by more than one-third. The rate of major complications in the study operating rooms fell from 11 percent in the baseline period to 7 percent after introduction of the checklist, a reduction of more than one-third. Even more dramatically, inpatient deaths following major operations fell by more than 40 percent (from 1.5 percent to 0.8 percent) with implementation of the checklist.read more

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