Medical Errors
Abstract
Medical errors and the quality problems to which they lead harm millions of Americans each year. If we are to reduce errors and improve quality substantially, we must create systems and care processes that anticipate inevitable human errors and either prevent them or compensate for them before they cause harm. Formidable barriers now stand in the way of progress. Success will require a multifaceted strategy, including public education, government investment and regulation, payment system restructuring, and leadership from within the delivery system.
The healthcare system in the United States has been exposed to various challenges and unfolding problems for many years. Medical errors is one of the big concerns in the healthcare industry; “Approximately 1.3 million people are injured annually in the United States following so-called "medication errors" (Stopppler, 2009). The National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention defines a medication error as "any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the health care professional, patient, or consumer...related to professional practice, health care products, procedures, and systems, including prescribing; order communication; product labeling, packaging, and nomenclature; compounding; dispensing; distribution; administration; education; monitoring; and use" (cummings,2003). By definition, these errors can occur at any stage in the medication process, which includes prescribing, order communication, product labeling, packaging, compounding, dispensing, distribution, and administration. Incidents such as handwritten prescriptions that are misread, wrongly prescribed medications, improper dosages administrated to patients during hospitalization, and information pamphlets accompanied by prescription drugs that are too complicated for the average patient to comprehend are just few examples of
Medical errors and the quality problems to which they lead harm millions of Americans each year. If we are to reduce errors and improve quality substantially, we must create systems and care processes that anticipate inevitable human errors and either prevent them or compensate for them before they cause harm. Formidable barriers now stand in the way of progress. Success will require a multifaceted strategy, including public education, government investment and regulation, payment system restructuring, and leadership from within the delivery system.
The healthcare system in the United States has been exposed to various challenges and unfolding problems for many years. Medical errors is one of the big concerns in the healthcare industry; “Approximately 1.3 million people are injured annually in the United States following so-called "medication errors" (Stopppler, 2009). The National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention defines a medication error as "any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the health care professional, patient, or consumer...related to professional practice, health care products, procedures, and systems, including prescribing; order communication; product labeling, packaging, and nomenclature; compounding; dispensing; distribution; administration; education; monitoring; and use" (cummings,2003). By definition, these errors can occur at any stage in the medication process, which includes prescribing, order communication, product labeling, packaging, compounding, dispensing, distribution, and administration. Incidents such as handwritten prescriptions that are misread, wrongly prescribed medications, improper dosages administrated to patients during hospitalization, and information pamphlets accompanied by prescription drugs that are too complicated for the average patient to comprehend are just few examples of