Patient Photos May Help Prevent Medical Error

Doctors routinely accidentally assign a particular treatment to the wrong person.

2012-09-22

September 22, 2012 (Press-News.org) Patients generally have few objections to a doctor's prescribed treatment because they assume the doctor is prescribing exactly what they need. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Doctors routinely accidentally assign a particular treatment to the wrong person. The consequences of such an error can be life-threatening.

These errors are more common than one might think. One Colorado hospital found that misplaced orders were the second-leading cause of unintended patient care.

Electronic Medical Records

Electronic medical records have become the norm for medical care providers. Switching records to electronic systems has proven beneficial for both patients and doctors. An electronic system allows doctors to track their patients on a computer instead of in dense paper files. While this has cut down on the amount of medical malpractice claims, errors continue to occur and doctors continue to put orders on the wrong patient's electronic chart. This may occur if a doctor has several files of patients on a screen at one time, for example, and mistakenly puts a treatment order into the wrong file.

Recent Change in Policy at One Children's Hospital Paying Dividends

To cut down on misplaced orders, a recent quality-improvement program at a children's medical hospital in Colorado attached a picture of the child onto the child's file, along with a verification order screen, that helped doctors to recognize which patient's file they were in. This ensured that doctors were able to connect the treatment to more than just a name and made it less likely a doctor would mistake which file he or she was in.

After the new technology was implemented, only three patients accidentally received treatments intended for others, down from the twelve that occurred in 2010.

Remedies for Injured Parties

When a patient received unintended treatment, patients have legal remedies for any resulting injury. Medical malpractice actions enable wronged patients to receive compensation for their pain and suffering, lost wages and medical expenses.

If you believe that you or a loved one is a victim of medical malpractice, contacting a personal injury lawyer is a critical step on the road to recovery and can ensure that you receive the compensation you deserve.

Article provided by Law Offices of Elizabeth Quick, PLLC
Visit us at http://www.eastsidepersonalinjuryattorney.com

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