E-learning on risk management. An opportunity for sharing knowledge and experiences in patient safety.

Quality problem: E-learning methodology is a good alternative to more traditional methods when economical restrictions and geographical dispersion are important. However, there is still little knowledge about its utility in the development of patient safety (PS) improvement projects.

Initial assessment: Evaluation of the acceptability and utility of an e-learning risk management (RM) course for healthcare professionals to develop PS improvement projects in different clinical settings.

Choice of solution: E-course offered, in Spanish and English, to facilitate the design of PS improvement projects using RM tools under the continuous support of PS experts.

Implementation: The evaluation of the course was based on the reaction, learning and healthcare professional behavior. A free online database was created to disseminate and share the projects developed during the course.

Evaluation: A total of 1426 professionals have completed the course (84.2%), of which 86.7% (1236) were from Spain, 8.3% (118) from Latin America and 5% (72) from other European and Eastern Mediterranean countries. More than 80% of the students were very satisfied with the e-course and 98% would recommend it to their colleagues. Learning and developing improvement projects through teamwork was highlighted as a very positive aspect. A total of 70.3% of the 387 PSIP were developed in hospitals. The most frequent topic was medication.

Lesson learned: Team learning based on real cases was one of the most positive aspects of the e-course. The improvement projects developed are transferable examples of good practices that facilitate the application of RM tools in different clinical settings.