Study: Surgical checklists had no effect on reducing adverse events

Surgical checklists have long been touted as a way to prevent adverse events, but a new study found that they had no noticeable impact on quality improvement. JAMA Surgery details the study, which examined the use of the Keystone Surgery checklist intervention in 14 Michigan health centers from 2006 to 2010.

“Implementation of a checklist-based quality improvement intervention did not affect rates of adverse surgical outcomes among patients undergoing general surgery in participating Michigan hospitals,” the study concluded. “Additional research is needed to understand why this program was not successful prior to further dissemination and implementation of this model to other populations.”

Read the JAMA Surgery study abstract here.