Reducing medical errors

Description

Reducing medical errors involves implementing systematic procedures to prevent mistakes in diagnosis, treatment, and patient care. Core actions include standardizing protocols, enhancing communication among healthcare teams, utilizing checklists, and adopting electronic health records to track patient information accurately. These measures directly address issues such as misdiagnosis, medication errors, and procedural oversights, aiming to improve patient safety, minimize harm, and ensure consistent, high-quality healthcare delivery.

Context

A study in Australia concluded that medical errors are the third largest cause of death in Australia (about 14,000 deaths), whilst a further 25,000 to 30,000 people develop medical complications as a result of medical errors. Of the 2,83 million Australians that visit the hospital every year, an estimated 450,000 patients become victims of medical errors of one form or another. Medical errors may include among others, poor nursing and inadequate patient supervision, medical misdiagnosis, errors during surgery, and lax hospital administration, such as complacency with medical files/records of patients.