Reducing Human Error in Healthcare Organizations

Human error in the healthcare sector is a common and serious situation that causes severe but unintentional harm to patients. Data of 2016 stated that at least 251,454 deaths were caused by human error, making it one of the three leading causes of death in the USA. Medical errors also account for human errors in administrative roles and clinical settings. As this is a serious matter, healthcare organizations must find the root of these errors to improve patient care and reduce dangers.

Reforms To Can Reduce Medical Errors:

Share patient data within healthcare organizations – Medical professionals must prioritize sharing patient data and important information that can help ensure effective care and avoid harm or deaths.

Integrate pharmacists to patient areas – A very common human medical error that causes thousands of deaths each year is wrong pharmaceutical doses and orders. Therefore it’s key for pharmacists to be embedded into patient areas to cut this type of medical errors.

Follow CDC guidelines for disinfection and hygiene – Another common cause of patient death every year in hospital infections. It should be mandatory for hospitals, clinics, and healthcare staff to follow the CDC’s guidelines for cleaning medical tools/items and patient rooms in healthcare facilities.

Communication – Two-thirds of deaths in healthcare-related to medical/human error are caused by miscommunication during care handoffs. Organizations should adopt detailed transitions between new and retiring teams, in regards to the patient in order to eliminate any confusion about the patient’s condition.

In the healthcare field, there could be many blind spots that result in severe human errors. These institutions must create and follow reforms to help reduce medical errors and ultimately save more lives. At Human Error Solutions we offer a Human Error Reduction Program with everything you need to achieve human reliability in your workplace, understand and fix the error once and for all. Contact us to learn more.