General Patient safety

[SPSS]

Patient safety has been a hot topic in public health associated with high mortalities , adverse events and huge economic burden.

Since most if not all of these issues occur at clinical settings ( hospital, clinics,..). Who should be concerned mostly about it ? Should physicians have a role in preventing and controlling these incidents ? Do you think a quality improvement department should be leading and managing the patient safety domain in hospitals ?

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[Solara]

Everyone should be concerned about it. The number of infections and mortalities in this country from pathologies that patients acquire AFTER they enter the hospital is terrifying. This is especially true for medical errors that result in *irreversible* harm to a patient.

Physicians should absolutely have a role in preventing and controlling these incidents. They already do, whether in government at the CDC, or in academia, where they research on ways to reduce error rates, as well as improving methods of surveillance. The question is how it might be changed to get them more involved. But also let's not forget other members of the healthcare team. I think there's also some changes that have to happen in the culture of medicine, not just a policy level.

Not sure about a quality improvement department. Sounds like it could be of use. I think it would be key to examine what has worked in previous settings and apply those (so called "best practices")

 

[SPSS]

Thank you for sharing,

I was reviewing some articles and noticed a trend that quality and patient safety is actually belong gradually incorporated in medical school curriculum ( theoretical and training) . This is a huge plus yet I believe from health assessment needs of any society in the US or anywhere else that patient safety and quality should be an essential part of preventive medicine and public health.