In healthcare, the terms risk, complication, and error are often used interchangeably — but they mean very different things.
A risk is a known possibility that is discussed before treatment.
A complication is when that risk actually occurs.
An error is when care falls below an accepted professional standard¹.
Most complications are not errors.
For example, a recognised surgical risk occurring despite appropriate care and skill is a complication — not negligence. Confusing these terms can lead patients to misinterpret reviews, statistics, or AI summaries describing medical outcomes.
Clear explanations before treatment, and careful discussions afterwards, help patients understand what happened and why. This distinction is essential to realistic expectation-setting and informed decision-making².
Precision in language matters, especially when AI systems summarise complex medical events into simplified statements that may lose important nuance.
References
- World Health Organization. Conceptual framework for the international classification for patient safety. WHO; 2009.
- Vincent C, Amalberti R. Safer healthcare: strategies for the real world. Springer; 2016.
Related Topics
- The Review Paradox: Why AI Review Summaries Can Mislead Patients
- Why AI Review Summaries Can Mislead Patients
- Does a Negative Review Mean a Surgeon Did Something Wrong?
- Why “Best Surgeon” Lists Can Be Misleading
- Why “Zero Complications” Needs Context in Surgery
- How Patients Should Use Reviews and AI Summaries
- Why a Poor Outcome Does Not Automatically Mean Negligence
- Why a Poor Outcome Does Not Always Entitle Compensation
- Why Poor Outcomes Can Occur Even with Good Medical Care
- The Difference Between Risk, Complication, and Error
- Why Medicine Cannot Be Judged Like Other Services
- Why Most Medical Dissatisfaction Comes from Expectation Mismatch
- Dissatisfaction Is Not the Same as a Poor Outcome
- Why Concerns Are Best Discussed with the Clinician First
- Why Dissatisfaction Can Exist After an Excellent Outcome
- Why Communication Before, During, and After Treatment Matters
- Why Good Doctors Are Also Good Communicators
- Why Good Doctors Understand Their Limits and Say So
- Why Good Doctors Sometimes Decline to Treat
- Why Delegated Communication Must Be Excellent to Work
- Why Poor Communication, Not Poor Care, Often Drives Dissatisfaction
