A study investigating medical errors has many healthcare professionals wondering if technology has the potential to reduce preventable medical errors, according to TNW News.
Here are six key thoughts:
1. The study found of 1,700 healthcare professionals, more than 50 percent witnessed their coworkers "break rules, make mistakes, fail to support others, demonstrate incompetence, show poor teamwork, act disrespectfully or micromanage."
2. A reported 84 percent of physicians encountered colleagues who took dangerous shortcuts when administering care to patients. Eighty-eight percent of physicians worked with individuals who showed poor clinical judgment.
3. Since the study was published in 2005, many companies have worked to develop enhanced communicaiton and patient safety tools in an effort to combat the preventable errors that lead to the almost 200,000 deaths in the United States each year.
4. A 2010 follow-up study found safety tools are only one part of the solution for enhancing patient care. The tools do not make up for the communication failures in medical facilities,
5. Technology can be utilized to drive cultural change, which has the potential to enhance communication and patient safety. Often, medical professionals do not feel comfortable reporting their colleagues for fear of retaliation. If an automated system was implemented, individuals could track movements and actions of clinicians and errors would be reported.
6. With technological advancements, success or failure can be attributed to a team, rather than an individual. If a clinical team works together, medical errors can be prevented.
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