Millions of people globally die each year due to medical errors, and one in ten patients are harmed while under the care of medical professionals.
Approximately 50 percent of these events are preventable, and many occur in primary and ambulatory settings. Medication and diagnostic errors are everyday adverse events, although many others exist. These medical errors lead to a decrease in patient safety and trust.
Do No Harm
Patients visit medical professionals with the understanding that these men and women are tasked with no harm. This is the fundamental principle of health care, and it refers to preventable harm.
These professionals must work to lower risks and avoidable adverse events while reducing the impact of any harm that has already occurred. Fewer people will be injured by malpractice, and the cost associated with these lawsuits will decrease.
Common Sources of Harm
Medication errors account for half of all avoidable harm in healthcare today.
Surgical errors remain a concern, and many patients develop infections in a medical facility. Over 20 percent of sepsis cases are related to care a patient has received, and up to 20 percent of physician-patient encounters end with the wrong diagnosis.
Patient falls remain a concern in hospitals, as 33 percent lead to injuries. Venous thromboembolism and pressure ulcers are other concerns for hospitalized patients, while patient misidentification can have fatal results.
Unsafe injection and transfusion practices also put patients at risk.
Factors That Lead to Errors
Many factors contribute to medical errors, and no medical professional or facility is immune. Medical interventions are becoming more complex, care isn’t properly coordinated, and processes and procedures are inadequate.
Many facilities lack the staff needed to care for patients properly, and those who are present may not be competent to treat patients at the needed level. These issues lead to errors and distrust on the part of patients.
Health information systems aren’t perfect. Any problem with an electronic health record or medication administration system can lead to an error that harms the patient.
Medical professionals may also misuse technology because they lack proper training. While errors that occur may not lead to adverse events, patients may lose trust in their medical providers when they learn of these issues.
They worry that the next error may be fatal.
Humans make errors. When these errors occur in medicine, they can have devastating consequences. Healthcare workers must communicate with one another for optimal patient care, and the same holds for healthcare teams.
They must also have an ongoing dialogue with patients and their families to ensure everyone is on the same page. Cognitive bias, fatigue, and burnout all contribute to human errors, and ways must be found to overcome them or patients will continue to lose faith in the medical industry.
However, patients may contribute to medical errors.
A lack of engagement and health literacy can lead to mistakes, and many patients don’t adhere to their treatment plans for various reasons. This behavior can impact medical malpractice cases, so patients must know this before filing a lawsuit.
Finally, external factors can lead to medical errors. Many in the industry are concerned about inconsistent regulations and an absence of policies. Environmental challenges must be addressed, and economic and financial pressures cannot be swept under the rug.
A Leading Cause of Death
Medical errors are now listed as the third leading cause of death.
Hundreds of thousands of patients are the victims of preventable harm each year, and hundreds of thousands die from these errors. Experts estimate $20 billion is the cost of these errors for healthcare systems, and that must change.
Patient and staff safety must be prioritized to reduce these errors and restore trust in medical professionals. A national safety organization is needed to examine errors and find ways to prevent them, and a national reporting system must be in place to share information about the errors.
When these steps are taken, experts predict that preventable errors will drop, benefiting patients and healthcare workers.