Zero Medical Errors?

Medical errors are prevalent in the United States health system, despite a continued effort to improve the situation. Garrouste-Orgeas, Flaatten, and Moreno (2016) have recently estimated patients experience between 26.8 to 58% medical errors in the health system. What Garrouste-Orgeas et al. estimation translates is that medical mistakes are a substantial contributor to preventable death.

Take, for example, a patient who goes to the hospital complaining of excruciating stomach pain, who was given a dose of antibiotics that he was allergic to and ended up passing away. There will always be adverse health outcomes, including complications, etc.. However, a majority of medical mistakes are preventable. The unfortunate truth is that similar situations are happening in our medical institutions every day. The irony of the situation is that the health care system is designed to help patients heal and recover, but we occasionally do more harm than good. Physicians take the Hippocratic oath, to not harm. We, as health care professionals must uphold a similar set of standards for the people we serve.

The good news is that the healthcare community is listening and trying to do something about it! The effort to improve human factor and health care errors is gaining traction.

Setting realistic, measurable goals is an integral step in accomplishing them. Goals such as "zero medical errors" are ineffective. Zero medical errors goals, while well-intentioned, are impossible to sustain. No system is a 100% efficient, so how is it possible to achieve a goal of zero medical errors? While, I am optimistic that we can realistically minimize medical errors, reaching a zero goal for no harm is unrealistic. The current health system makes it complicated to achieve nearing a goal of zero medical errors. Thus, to bring about real change, the health system must be re-imagined, and system reliability built into the foundation of health care.

A multifaceted approach to re-inventing health care may help with significantly reducing medical errors. One solution, supported by many researchers including Michael Porter, is to implement Integrated Practice Units (IPUs) to facilitate and improve costs, length of stay, etc. A system that is re-imagined, patient-centered, and hardwired to promote positive outcomes of patients at the core of its foundation is the key to nearing a zero goal for medical errors. Find more about IPUs here: https://hbr.org/2013/10/the-strategy-that-will-fix-health-care

Reference

1. Garrouste-Orgeas M, Flaatten H, Moreno R. Understanding medical errors and adverse events in ICU patients. Intensive Care Medicine. 2016 Jan 1;42(1):107–9.