The Perspectives of Medical Errors in the Health Care Industry

The Perspectives of Medical Errors in the Health Care Industry

Kijpokin Kasemsap (Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Thailand)
Copyright: © 2017 |Pages: 23
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-2237-9.ch047

Abstract

This chapter presents the overview of medical errors; drug prescription errors and prescribing; the overview of medical error disclosure; medical errors and telemedicine; medical errors and medical education; the overview of nursing medication errors; and the aspects of medical errors in the health care industry. Reducing medical errors, increasing patient safety, and improving the quality of health care are the major goals in the health care industry. Medical errors are caused by mistakes in drug prescription, dosing, and medical administration in inpatient and outpatient settings. Heath care-related guidelines, institutional safety practices, and modern health care technologies must be applied in hospitals, clinics, and medical offices to reduce the occurrence of medical errors. The chapter argues that understanding the perspectives of medical errors has the potential to enhance health care performance and reach strategic goals in the health care industry.
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Background

For years, health care experts have recognized that medical errors exist and compromise health care quality (Vozikis, 2012). Errors are defined as any deviation from established standard operating procedures (Maskens et al., 2014). Studies of medical errors demonstrate that errors and adverse events are common in hospitals (Shah et al., 2009). Preventable error, malpractice, and complications can be considered as adverse events (Zientek, 2010). The adverse events rates and medical lawsuits are on the rise, whereas many medical errors are mostly due to negligence or malpractices which are preventable (Wong & Balasingam, 2013). Being able to understand health information and make decisions from that information is vital to patients' well-being (Kasemsap, 2017a).

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