Medical error is defined as:

Medical error is defined as:

• A. Failure of a planned action or using the wrong plan to achieve an aim
• B. An unavoidable adverse event
• C. An error by a patient
• D. A billing mistake

Answer: (A)

Medical error is defined by how care is planned and carried out, not merely by the harm that occurs. The correct idea is that a medical error happens when a planned action is not completed as intended, or a different plan is used to achieve the goal, leading to a deviation from optimal care. This emphasizes process and decisions in the delivery of care, which can contribute to preventable harm. Understanding this helps distinguish error from harm. An unwanted outcome called an adverse event can happen even when care is appropriate, and not all adverse events are due to errors. Some adverse events are unavoidable. It also clarifies that errors are not about what the patient does (patients can contribute to harm in various ways, but that isn’t what defines a medical error) or about administrative issues like billing. So, the definition centers on failures or incorrect plans in the delivery of medical care, not on the harm itself, not on patient actions, and not on billing.

Medical error is defined by how care is planned and carried out, not merely by the harm that occurs. The correct idea is that a medical error happens when a planned action is not completed as intended, or a different plan is used to achieve the goal, leading to a deviation from optimal care. This emphasizes process and decisions in the delivery of care, which can contribute to preventable harm.

Understanding this helps distinguish error from harm. An unwanted outcome called an adverse event can happen even when care is appropriate, and not all adverse events are due to errors. Some adverse events are unavoidable. It also clarifies that errors are not about what the patient does (patients can contribute to harm in various ways, but that isn’t what defines a medical error) or about administrative issues like billing.

So, the definition centers on failures or incorrect plans in the delivery of medical care, not on the harm itself, not on patient actions, and not on billing.