MEDICAL ERRORS ARE THE third leading cause of death in the U.S.
Consequences of Medication Errors is no laughing matter. For example, 10% of all hospital visits are a result of medicine errors. Finally, the CDC estimates over 100 thousand annual death. Med-Q Medication Compliance system recommends ar proactive approach. Finally, reduce the potential fatal Consequences of Medication Errors.
Seniors Citizens don’t just die from cancer and heart attacks
The problem is the number of medication errors. Med-Q Medication Compliance S yustem syas, “they die from system-wide failings and poorly coordinated medication management.
A new study has been released from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Martin Makary, a professor of surgery and health policy authered the stidy He said, “It’s medical care gone awry.” The magnitude of the death toll is staggering. To sum up, roughly 10 percent of U.S. deaths annually are caused by medication errors. Again, at a time when huge efforts to reform the health system to ensure safe, high quality, medical care. and lower costs. Patient safety efforts have failed to gain much traction, Dr. Makary says, “There’s no systematic effort to study medical errors as well as efforts to put safeguards in place.
Medical error leading to patient death is an under-recognized crisis
Med-Q Medication Compliance System defines medical errors as
lapses in judgment, skill or coordination of care; mistaken diagnoses; system failures that lead to patient deaths or the failure to rescue dying patients; and preventable complications of care.
Their report was 20 years io the making
The result, “To Err is Human”. Medication errors are very common for all ages, sexes and income levels. In fgact, the Institute of Medicine, reported, ” medical mistakes are rampant in health care.” The IOM, (a think tank made up of leading scientists) estimares: 45,000 to 105,,000 people die in U.S. hospitals every year. Even then, some researchers claimed the estimates were low and based on outdated information.
The new data is indicating the number may be a lot higher
For example,The Journal Health Affairs reported 1.2% of hospital patients die every year from some kind of medical errors. Shockingly, apply to the more than 30 million people who are hospitalized each year, The numbers can be 400% higher than the CDC report. MED-Q says, ” this would translate into 400,201 deaths per year,.
The John Hopkins team used evidence from four different kinds of studies. They all attempted to analyzed medical death rate data from 2001 to 2009. One of the reports was form the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Taking the data, they were able to calculate a mean death rate for medical errors in U.S. hospitals.
Applying this rate to the 35 million admissions in 2014, they calculated that over 250 thousand deaths as a direct resulted from medical mistakes.
Some Hospitals can be rewarded for Poor Care
Most researchers claim the figure most likely much higher. The reason, were not able to use data from deaths that occur in outpatient clinics, nursing homes and other non-hospital settings. Hence, where health care workers care for fragile patients who need complex care and medication mistakes can be deadly. To sum up, it’s fair to say that this number is not agreed to by all doctors.Med-Q Medication Compliance system says, We wouldn’t take the most current numbers to the bank.” To sum up, it doesn’t matter. The reason, because all these numbers are so big. They’re a reminder of the size of the deadly problem. Finally, it is sad how little is being done to address it.”
Patient safety as well as improvement over the past 20 years has been misdirected and even ineffective
For example, if one were to telephone the CEO of a major hospital and asked, ‘How many medical errors did you have in the last week Events such as, how many falls? How many of these falls resulted in serious injury?’ They won’t have any idea.
Another issue rfgarding the Consequences of Medication Errors. Again, patient safety is being crowded out by newer initiatives. Are patient safety efforts, have lost ground in recent years, For example, In-Home medication errors for using and old fashion pill box. The newest smart pill boxes are a new performance improvement that has come down the highway.
The Health Care Industry is calling for reforms that would improve the reporting of medical errors. Hence, better reporting , could inform prevention efforts. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which gathers births, deaths and other vital statistics. Again, to rank medical errors on the list of top causes for death. The CDC should show on death certificates if there were medical errors. To sum up, doctors, medical examiners and coroners ought to report medical errors that contribute to a person’s death.
The governments well as the private sector spend “TONS of MONEY” on cancer and heart disease research and prevention. “It is time for the country to invest in medical quality and patient safety. The goal, put and end to medication errors .
