Medicine is an imperfect thing. While most of the time, it will steer a patient away from illness and toward health, this isn’t always the case. After all, the people and institutions that administer medicine aren’t perfect. Sometimes, they make mistakes; sometimes, those mistakes have negative consequences.
Fortunately, there are things we can do to limit the likelihood of medical errors, and the impact of medical negligence.
Understanding medical errors
Medical errors come in many different forms. These include medication mistakes, which occur in the pharmacy. A pharmacist might give you too much or too little of the right drug, or the wrong drug entirely. They might prepare a drug in such a way that it isn’t effective, or that it’s actually harmful.
The doctor who performs the diagnosis might make a mistake. This might cause you to retrieve treatment whose side effects actually harm you. Arguably worse, it will delay or prevent you from receiving the right diagnosis, and the appropriate treatment.
Then there are surgical mishaps. A surgeon could leave a foreign object inside a patient, or make the wrong incision during the procedure.
Effective Communication with Healthcare Providers
In many cases, errors can result from communication breakdown between patients and medical professionals – or amongst medical professionals. Part of a healthcare provider’s skillset should be the ability to know what questions to ask – but a patient might also volunteer information that they consider relevant.
What really matters is that patients are able to understand and follow instructions, especially when it comes to prescribed medication.
Knowing Your Rights and When to Seek Legal Advice
Patients are entitled to a certain standard of care from medical practitioners and institutions. When this standard is not met, legal action might be taken. This is something that medical negligence solicitors can often help with. By knowing your rights in advance, you’ll stand a better chance of spotting when negligence has occurred.
Utilising Technology for Better Healthcare
The influence of technology might also help to reduce the likelihood of a medical error. Two forms of technology stand out as influential.
The electronic health record (EHR) is a way for medical professionals to easily exchange patient information with one another. It’s a more reliable, current, and accurate version of the clipboard that was once attached to the foot of a hospital bed. When doctors are able to act on better information, they’re less likely to make a mistake.
Then there’s the advent of telemedicine. Doctors and patients can now check in with one another remotely, without the need for an in-person visit. This can effectively increase a doctor’s capacity, allowing them more time, and reducing the likelihood of an error elsewhere.