Hospitals Can Prevent Medical Errors
5March2013
5March2013
Many people assume that medical malpractice always involves errors by individual doctors. But others who provide health care, including those who work in hospitals, can also make mistakes that harm patients and amount to medical negligence. A federal agency recently outlined measures that hospitals can take to reduce the risk of errors and increase safety for patients.
The U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality says the strategies address common patient safety issues, such as fall hazards, drug interactions, infections and radiation exposure.
The list includes such measures as:
None of these recommendations come as a surprise to the Seattle medical malpractice lawyers at Morrow Kidman Tinker Macey-Cushman, PLLC. In fact, many hospitals follow these strategies and have seen some improvements in patient care and reductions in surgical errors. According to the researchers who compiled the report, hospitals have made some progress in reducing the rates of medical errors, but overall, the progress hasn’t been satisfactory.
The problem is that not all hospitals implement these strategies to the fullest extent. In many hospitals, attitudes among medical personnel are hard to change. For instance, staff members may believe that certain errors, such as minor infections, are unavoidable in a medical facility.
The fact is that these infections, and, in fact, all medical errors are entirely preventable. The attitude in many hospitals needs to change if we are to see real progress and fewer medical errors.
The Seattle medical malpractice lawyers at Morrow Kidman Tinker Macey-Cushman, PLLC represent people who have been injured by the medical negligence by doctors, nurses, technicians and other medical personnel.