According to the Indianapolis Star today, “women in Iraq and the Gaza Strip have a better chance of surviving childbirth than women in the 33 Indiana counties where inpatient delivery service simply does not exist.” There was a USA Today feature earlier this year which documents how mothers were dying due to preventable factors that […]
The most common medical error is also one of the deadliest. According to a new report, diagnostic errors are the most common of all medical errors. The report published by ECRI states that diagnostic errors are the most common errors in outpatient care settings. The second most common errors are medication errors, which also have […]
Far too many radiology errors are resulting in wrong diagnoses and unnecessary surgeries. Forbes magazine recently reported on the high cost of such unnecessary surgeries, not just in monetary terms, but also in terms of the human suffering involved in these unwarranted surgeries. According to the report, the error rates from x-rays and other minor […]
There are several factors that can increase the risk of an error during a surgery, but a new study finds that human deficiencies or errors are linked to more than half of all surgical errors. The study was conducted by Baylor College of Medicine. The investigators used their college’s weekly conferences during which doctors identify […]
The British Medical Journal recently published an editorial calling for the abandonment of the term ”second victims” to refer to healthcare providers who have caused patient harm as a result of medical errors. The term “second victim” was coined by Albert Wu back in 2000 in an editorial that was also published in the British […]
Failure to adhere to proper hand hygiene protocols can cause numerous infections in a hospital setting. This May, the World Health Organization commemorated World Hand Hygiene Day to raise awareness about the need for good, basic hand washing practices in order to prevent the spread of disease. The World Heath Organization is calling on healthcare […]
The Unites States shamefully continues to be the worst country in the developed world for women to give birth. According to a USA Today analysis of birth data, as many as 1 in 8 hospitals in the United States has a fatal maternal complication rate that is at least double the rate for other hospitals. […]
Orthopaedic specialists are more likely than other doctors to report higher than typical levels of burnout or stress. Much of this stress has to do with their use of Electronic Health Records. The study focused on doctors who use Electronic Health Record systems. These systems have been adopted by 96 percent of American health care […]
Hospital–acquired infections are deadly, and can drastically impact the duration of the patient’s hospitalization as well as his outcome. Researchers experimenting with modified ventilation systems believe that these systems could help reduce the risk of contracting airborne infections in a hospital. Hospital-acquired infections are much more common than you may think. These are infections that […]
Every March, the Brain Injury Association of America commemorates Brain Injury Awareness Month through campaigns that aim to increase awareness about the injury in the country. From 2018 through 2020, the campaign is called “Change your Mind,” and it aims to foster awareness about this debilitating injury, and the effects it can have on patients. […]
