Medical Error and Health Administration - Essay Example

Health administration Medical error refers to an adverse effect on patient care due to inaccurate or incomplete medical diagnosis, wrong patient identification, or medical documentation during drug prescription. Medical error can occur in many areas in the healthcare system such as hospitals, pharmacies, nursing homes and medical laboratories. Some common errors include improper treatment, delayed test results and wrong drug prescription. Health administration Introduction Medical is a leading cause of patient injury and deaths in the United States of America. Medical error is a mistake that could lead to patient death or cause the patient to undergo further unnecessary medical procedures in order to reduce the risk of harm (Kalra, 2011). Medical errors can be grouped in to diagnostic errors that include poor medical tests, treatment errors that include inappropriate care, medications and process errors that include poor communication, wrong patient identification, documentation and equipment failures. Medical error is associated with poor training, urgent care, new procedures and complex care. Complicated medical technologies, poor communication and fragmented systems can also lead to medical error. Some human factors that lead to medical errors include burnout, depression, and fatigue and time pressures (Kalra, 2011). Steps of responding to medical errors The initial step in responding to medical error is to address the current medical needs of the patient. The physician should immediately address the adverse unanticipated medical outcome by assessing extends of harm and the required medical procedures to reduce the harm (Kalra, 2011). The second step entails communication of the adverse outcome with the patient or any representatives of the patient like the close relatives. These entail providing information on the causes of the medical error and extend of harm to the patient (Kalra, 2011). The third step is reporting to the appropriate parties and authorities in the health facility and regulatory agencies. Each health facility should have guidelines on internal reporting of the medical error and steps in reducing further adverse medical outcomes (Kalra, 2011). The fourth step is checking the medical records of the patient. Such medical documentation should be accurate and complete. This includes the patient medical condition prior to the medical error, the interventions undertaken to reduce the harm and patient response. The physician should also note the information communicated to the patient after the medical error (Kalra, 2011). The fifth step entails follow ups and monitoring the changes in patient medical condition due to the medical error. The physician should address the patient emotional needs and encourage open communication with the patient, convey any new information and take corrective actions depending on the changing medical outcome of the intervention (Kalra, 2011). The last step in responding to medical errors includes situational management and emotional support of both the patient and physician. This is done through counseling services, retraining the physician or addressing the equipment failures in order to minimize future medical error (Kalra, 2011). Reducing liability of medical errors Medical personnel who act negligently or carelessly are guilty of medical liability for patient injury. The medical personnel owe the patient the duty of care that meets the professional standards. The breach of the duty leads to medical liability (Kalra, 2011). The initial step in reducing liability is issuing an apology and communicating the medical error to the patient. The physician should encourage alternative dispute resolution mechanisms such as arbitration. This will depend on the quality of relationship between the patient and physician. The physician should accept responsibility and issue a genuine apology to the concerned patient. Many states have established physician apology laws that aim at reducing the possibility of lawsuits (Kalra, 2011). The physician can reduce liability by encouraging a culture of patient safety and healthcare quality. This can be done through encouraging early reporting of any identified wrong processes and procedures. The medical personnel should document all the patient symptoms and details in order to avoid wrong tests and wrong patient identification (Kalra, 2011). The medical personnel should follow the recognized and established standards of care. This can be achieved through additional training on changing processes and medical technology. The physician should exercise sound judgment and desist from performing unnecessary procedures or administering additional medication due to pressure (Kalra, 2011). The medical personnel should conduct all necessary tests, diagnosis and ensure patients attend all referrals. The physicians should avoid prescribing medication through the phone. All medical documents and patient information should be clearly documented and stored properly for future reference (Kalra, 2011). Another potential method of reducing liability is protection through medical malpractice insur5rance. Medical insurance companies provide various risk management services that aim at training the medical personnel on how to eliminate the possibility of medical liability while administering care to patients (Kalra, 2011). Ethical issues in medical error Medical ethics stems from medical laws, institutional practices, and professional standards of care and fiduciary obligations of the physician to the patient. Ethics in medical errors aim at protecting patient confidentiality, ensuring informed consent of the medical personnel in all medical procedures and ensuring access to emergency treatment (Kalra, 2011). The medical personnel should not deny the patient access to emergency treatment. The medical personnel should conduct all necessary tests, procedures and medical prescription in a timely manner in order to ensure patient safety. All patients should be treated with respect and dignity while discharging the medication. Medical professionals should also adhere to patient autonomy since patients have the right to refuse the treatment. The medical practitioner should act in the best interest of the patients and ensure fairness in administering medication (Croskerry, Cosby & Schenkel, 2009). The physician should also avoid any conflict of interest that may lead to medical errors. These include avoiding any vendor relationships or sexual relationships with the patients. Drug manufacturing and distribution companies may influence prescription methods while sexual relationships will lead to deregistration of the practitioner (Croskerry, Cosby & Schenkel, 2009). The medical personnel should also respect the privacy of patients through safeguarding all confidentiality information obtained from the patient. All relevant patient information should be properly documented and safeguarded from unauthorized access (Croskerry, Cosby & Schenkel, 2009). The medical personnel should also seek continuous improvement in knowledge and training in order to enhance the professional practice and honor of the profession. The personnel should also participate in additional activities that aim at enhancing the health of the community (Kalra, 2011). Strategy to reduce medical error There are various strategies that can be used to reduce medical error. Proper patient documentation and record keeping can be used to reduce patient identification errors. The physician should obtain the biographic details including the address of the patient (Croskerry, Cosby & Schenkel, 2009). Conducting all necessary medical tests and constantly monitoring the changes in patient medical condition will eliminate the instances of wrong procedures and inappropriate medical tests and surgeries. The physician should also ensure all medical equipments in the health facility are properly functioning in order to reduce chances of patient injury (Croskerry, Cosby & Schenkel, 2009). Conclusion Medical error is an adverse patient outcome that causes patient injury due to poor medical diagnosis, wrong documentation or equipment failure. Medical errors will lead to physician liability due to breach of duty of care. The medical liability can be reduced through early communication of the medical error to the patient, encouraging a culture of quality healthcare through following the established professional standards of care or use of medical malpractice insurance. Medical professionals have an ethical duty of respecting patient confidentiality, providing high quality care according to patient wishes and treating all patients with dignity. Medical error can be reduced through proper patient information documentation, careful disease diagnosis and regular equipment maintenance. References: Croskerry, P., Cosby, K & Schenkel, S.M. (2009). Patient safety in emergency medicine. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Williams. Kalra, J. (2011). Medical errors and patient safety. Berlin: De Gruyter. Read More