Physician Roulette: Come on like Thunder to Prevent Medical Blunder
Pain and dread of the unknown are terrible things. When “an ounce of prevention” cedes the day to “a pound of cure,” we’d just as soon sell our souls to the devil as make a mortal choice. We pick up the Yellow Pages and pray to The Almighty that the healer we choose has his or her proverbial cards in order. “Physician roulette” is the name of the game, and let the buyer beware; one false move spells no tomorrow.
With 196,000 people dying each year in hospitals from medical errors, careful scrutiny of the diplomas on a wall is just a first step. Common medical errors run the gamut from adverse drug reactions and dispensing blunders, to dirty hands, medical equipment, and catheters, serving as foci of infection. And let’s not forget wrong-site surgery either.
The statistics are absolutely mind-boggling. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the University of Michigan School of Medicine, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (J.C.A.H.C.), and the Institute of Medicine: 1) each year 1.3 million people are injured by medication errors ranging from adverse drug reactions to dispensing blunders, and at least 7,000 patients die; 2) 200,000 people are infected by intravascular catheters each year, nearly the same number suffer urinary tract infections from urinary catheters, and, to make matters worse, doctors are unaware that a urinary catheter is in place 40% of the time; 3) two million people each year come down with hospital-acquired infections; and 4) since 1996, there have been 150 reports of surgeries being performed on the wrong limb or organ.
So, what can we, the general public, do to prevent our becoming casualties of this war or, at the least, statistics in some remote medical journal? There are precautions we can take to help prevent some of the more common medical problems, and I will list them here.
1) Monitor your own care.
2) Quiz doctors and nurses closely, even in high-pressure situations like the operating room.
3) Clarify physician handwriting, dosage, and indications for all prescriptions. In other words, read the prescription back to your doctor and ask what it’s for.
4) During a hospital stay, ask every nurse or aide the name of the medicine he or she is giving you, and what it’s for.
5) Be particularly careful and vigilant about medicines with similar names.
6) Provide your physician with a list of all the medications you are currently taking, in order to avoid prescription of a new medication that will interact adversely with another you’re already on.
7) Ask everyone who might touch you to wash his or her hands, to avoid transmission of infection via hospital workers’ hands.
8) Ask your doctor if it’s absolutely necessary to insert a urinary catheter. If the answer is yes, ask when it can be taken out. Also, ask for an antiseptic-coated catheter, and, if insertion is protracted beyond two days, make sure the catheter is made of silver alloy.
9) Make sure you and your surgeon are on the same wavelength. Discuss what steps are being taken to identify the right site for the procedure. Once you’re in the operating room, confirm that everyone on the surgical team knows what procedure has been scheduled and the right site for the procedure.
Rules, guidelines, directives, and shopping lists, like those listed above, are difficult to adhere to in the real world. That’s why the Senate recently passed legislation that would create a voluntary and confidential reporting system for medical errors. Healthy vigilance during clear sailing will help us circumnavigate our years, mindful of, but not intimidated by, possible medical storm clouds ahead.
With 196,000 people dying each year in hospitals from medical errors, careful scrutiny of the diplomas on a wall is just a first step. Common medical errors run the gamut from adverse drug reactions and dispensing blunders, to dirty hands, medical equipment, and catheters, serving as foci of infection. And let’s not forget wrong-site surgery either.
The statistics are absolutely mind-boggling. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the University of Michigan School of Medicine, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (J.C.A.H.C.), and the Institute of Medicine: 1) each year 1.3 million people are injured by medication errors ranging from adverse drug reactions to dispensing blunders, and at least 7,000 patients die; 2) 200,000 people are infected by intravascular catheters each year, nearly the same number suffer urinary tract infections from urinary catheters, and, to make matters worse, doctors are unaware that a urinary catheter is in place 40% of the time; 3) two million people each year come down with hospital-acquired infections; and 4) since 1996, there have been 150 reports of surgeries being performed on the wrong limb or organ.
So, what can we, the general public, do to prevent our becoming casualties of this war or, at the least, statistics in some remote medical journal? There are precautions we can take to help prevent some of the more common medical problems, and I will list them here.
1) Monitor your own care.
2) Quiz doctors and nurses closely, even in high-pressure situations like the operating room.
3) Clarify physician handwriting, dosage, and indications for all prescriptions. In other words, read the prescription back to your doctor and ask what it’s for.
4) During a hospital stay, ask every nurse or aide the name of the medicine he or she is giving you, and what it’s for.
5) Be particularly careful and vigilant about medicines with similar names.
6) Provide your physician with a list of all the medications you are currently taking, in order to avoid prescription of a new medication that will interact adversely with another you’re already on.
7) Ask everyone who might touch you to wash his or her hands, to avoid transmission of infection via hospital workers’ hands.
8) Ask your doctor if it’s absolutely necessary to insert a urinary catheter. If the answer is yes, ask when it can be taken out. Also, ask for an antiseptic-coated catheter, and, if insertion is protracted beyond two days, make sure the catheter is made of silver alloy.
9) Make sure you and your surgeon are on the same wavelength. Discuss what steps are being taken to identify the right site for the procedure. Once you’re in the operating room, confirm that everyone on the surgical team knows what procedure has been scheduled and the right site for the procedure.
Rules, guidelines, directives, and shopping lists, like those listed above, are difficult to adhere to in the real world. That’s why the Senate recently passed legislation that would create a voluntary and confidential reporting system for medical errors. Healthy vigilance during clear sailing will help us circumnavigate our years, mindful of, but not intimidated by, possible medical storm clouds ahead.
Copyright 2004, Albert M. Balesh, M.D. All rights reserved.
posted by Dr. Al at
7/10/2006 12:50:00 PM
2 Comments:
Looks nice! Awesome content. Good job guys.
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