Medical Mistakes Impair Patient Health

The medical industry seeks to provide safe patient care to everyone, but there remains the possibility of mistakes. When these occur, patients are not only put at risk, but it negatively impacts their future care. And the issue cascades. Patients may become wary of seeking further care if they have experienced medical mistakes personally, but also if they know family members or friends have experienced them.

A recent survey by Wolters Kluwer Health looked into this problem. Findings show that the issue of medical mistakes is on the minds of patients, with 73% noting concern about medical errors (45% "very" concerned), and 30% of respondents reporting that they or their friends/family members have personally experienced errors in medical care. Some issues that have occurred are receiving incorrect billing from their medical provider (45%) or misdiagnosis (20%). Cited reasons for these errors are as follows:

Reason For Mistakes	Percentage
Staff Miscommunication	35%
Medical Providers Too Rushed	26%
Staff Are Tired	14%
Staff Shortages	12%

Patients have begun to take control of their care to ensure these errors will not occur. To combat staff exhaustion, patients may delay their care until early week, when providers might be better rested. They also may seek a second opinion or confirm their diagnosis with their provider to make sure they understand what they're being treated for. Additionally, patients may write down instructions for their physician or nurse to make sure their wishes are understood.

Patient Action	Percentage
Validate Diagnosis	66%
Sought Second Opinion	56%
Written Instructions For Providers	36%
Delayed Care Until Early Week	19%

"What is clear from survey findings is that there is a high level of concern among American consumers about medical mistakes, which could impact the doctor-patient relationship as well as how consumers approach their own healthcare. Clinical decision support tools can play a significant role in reducing instances of medical errors and improving communication among parties involved in a patient's care. Studies have shown that hospitals that adopt certain clinical decision support systems experience shorter hospital lengths of stay, reduced mortality rates and overall improvements in quality of care." ~ Dr. Linda Peitzman, Chief Medical Officer (Wolters Kluwer Health)