Introduction: There is a serious gap in risk management and patient safety discipline in dentistry compared to the developments in this area in general medicine. Few publications appear in the professional literature and there is a lack of specific considerations from the regulator aimed to regulate this domain in dentistry in Israel and a lack of activity in this field on the national level: conferences, courses and training may serve as a proof of this gap.
Aims: To develop and implement a process and a tool for conducting safety rounds in Clalit Smile dental clinics.
Methods: The process and the tool were developed in accordance with the guidelines of Ministry of Health, analysis of adverse events reported to Clalit Smile in the years 2012-18, in order to pinpoint the specific risk in Clalit Smile operations and adverse event debriefings. The tool that was developed is implemented in an Excel spreadsheet, where the results of the safety rounds are documented and scores are calculated.
Results: The safety round team was positively welcomed by the clinics staff, mentioning the value they attribute to this activity. The concept and the structure of the tool enable it to easily identify the weak points, responsible for lowering the scores in the round and to correct them promptly. The range of the scores: 53.5-60% is relatively low, although differences between the clinics were evident and all of the clinics had to improve in: compliance with procedures, medical records, care plans and maintenance of the medical equipment.
Conclusions: The process and the tool proved themselves to be applicable and able to identify risks and systemic shortcomings in Clalit Smile clinics.
Discussion: The safety rounds conducted in this study, enabled identification of clinic-specific risks and shortcomings in addition to systemic shortcomings. Wide implementation of the safety rounds in which at least once in two years every clinic will undergo this process, will enable the identification of clinic-specific risks and their prompt correction and systemic shortcomings. This will facilitate the definition of organizational intervention plans aimed at improving patient safety in the entire organization.