International Journal for Quality in Health Care Advance Access originally published online on April 25, 2006
International Journal for Quality in Health Care 2006 18(4):264-265; doi:10.1093/intqhc/mzl008
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Borges on classification
Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Geneva and Quality of Care Service, University Hospitals of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
Address reprint requests to Thomas V. Perneger, Quality of Care Service, University Hospitals of Geneva, CH-1211 Geneva 14, Switzerland. E-mail: thomas.perneger{at}hcuge.ch
Accepted for publication March 27, 2006.
The great Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges wrote in 1942 an essay titled ‘El idioma analítico de John Wilkins’ in which he laid out the challenges of human attempts to classify the world [1]. To illustrate his argument, Borges reproduced a classification of animals purportedly found in ‘a certain Chinese encyclopaedia entitled "Celestial [Emporium]" of Benevolent Knowledge’.1 The ‘ambiguities, redundancies and deficiencies’ of classification schemes noted by Borges may have a familiar ring for the experts of the WHO World Alliance on Patient Safety, as they tackle the development of a comprehensive international classification of patient safety events [2]. To contribute to the work of the World Alliance, we at the Journal have applied the categorization of animals in ancient China to classify patient safety events. One cannot help being impressed by the remarkable homology between the two taxonomies (Table 1).
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On a more serious note, Borges observed that ‘it is clear that there is no classification of the Universe not being arbitrary and full of conjectures’ [1]. It may appear odd that Borges should see conjectures in classifications, which are by definition rather explicit. This is because he considers that a full understanding of the things to be classified and of their mutual relationships is necessary for the classification to make sense—he really meant ‘conjectures about the workings of the Universe’. This too is true of patient safety. The current terminology of patient safety has been likened to the Tower of Babel [3]. The problems do not lie with the words we use but rather with the underlying concepts. To fill Linnaeus’ shoes in the field of patient safety, the World Alliance experts must first establish a coherent conceptual framework for the causes, occurrences, and consequences of patient safety events. Several candidate models exist [4–56]. Only once the conceptual framework is agreed upon can a useful classification scheme emerge.
The conceptual framework need not be perfect to be usable. As any other classification, the future classification of patient safety events will evolve as knowledge accrues. Borges, again: ‘The impossibility of penetrating the divine pattern of the universe cannot stop us from planning human patterns, even though we are conscious they are not definitive’ [1].
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1 The Spanish «Emporio» was rendered by «Empire» in this translation.
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 Top References |
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- Borges JL.John Wilkins’ analytical language. In Weinberger E et al., ed. and trans. The Total Library: Non-Fiction 1922–86. London: Penguin Books, 2001: 229–232. The excerpt reproduced in the table is from another translation available on http://www.ldc.upenn.edu/myl/wilkins.html Accessed 27 March 2006.
- World Alliance for Patient Safety Forward Programme 2005. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2004: http://www.who.int/patientsafety/en/brochure_final.pdf Accessed 27 March 2006.
- Weingart SN. Beyond Babel: prospects for a universal patient safety taxonomy. Int J Qual Health Care 2005; 17: 93–94.
[Free Full Text] - Runciman WB, Helps SC, Sexton EJ, Malpass A. A classification for incidents and accidents in the health-care system. J Qual Clin Pract 1998; 18: 199–211.[Medline]
- Van der Schaaf T. PRISMA-Medical: A Brief Description. Eindhoven, The Netherlands: Eindhoven University of Technology, 2005.
- Chang A, Schyve PM, Croteau RJ, O’Leary DS, Loeb JM. The JCAHO patient safety event taxonomy: a standardized terminology and classification schema for near misses and adverse events. Int J Qual Health Care 2005; 17: 95–105.
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