“The term “Never Event” was first introduced in 2001 by Ken Kizer, MD, former CEO of the National Quality Forum (NQF), in reference to particularly shocking medical errors (such as wrong-site surgery) that should never occur. Over time, the list has been expanded to signify adverse events that are unambiguous (clearly identifiable and measurable), serious (resulting in death or significant disability), and usually preventable. The NQF initially defined 27 such events in 2002. The list has been revised since then, most recently in 2011, and now consists of 29 events grouped into 6 categories: surgical, product or device, patient protection, care management, environmental, radiologic, and criminal.”
Never Events are categorized as: Surgical or Invasive Procedure events; Product or Device events;• Patient Protection events; Care Management events; Environmental events; Radiologic events; Potential Criminal events
* to see the full article from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality highlight and click on open hyperlink http://psnet.ahrq.gov/primer.aspx?primerID=3
Also: http://www.qualityforum.org/Topics/SREs/Serious_Reportable_Events.aspx
For FAQs https://leapfroghospitalsurvey.zendesk.com/entries/23732253-Never-Events-Frequently-Asked-Questions-FAQ-