Those who are sick, scared, and searching for help can take comfort in knowing there are people in the healthcare industry dedicating their time to them. This simple fact is exactly why it is so important that patient safety and risk management be a priority.
In 2013, between 210,000 and 440,000 hospital patients suffered from some type of harm that was preventable. This huge number is unacceptable. Read on to find out why patient safety must be accurate and how to achieve just that.
What Is Patient Safety?
Before we start on the why and how of patient safety, let’s define it. Patient safety emphasizes safety by reporting, preventing, reducing, and analyzing error that leads to adverse events.
Risk Management
Risk management is directly related to patient safety. Risk management strategies are developed from analyzing and implementing practices. It also helps to identify any potential risk factors.
Why Is This Important?
Again, what is the goal of healthcare? To protect, treat, and care for those who are ill or dealing with healthcare-related issues. When patient safety is not a priority, that goal is much harder to reach.
In some situations, this could be the difference between life and death. A 2019 study found that 161,000 avoidable deaths occur annually due to poor safety measures.
Causing harm to those that are promised protection goes against everything that healthcare professionals stand for.
Liability
If looking at this from a moral and an ethical standpoint doesn’t do it for you, there is always the legal point of view. Simply ignoring or having back practices in place, puts your practice or facility at risk.
A patient who can prove they were harmed by something preventable, such as medical malpractice, may be able to file a lawsuit. In some cases, professionals may lose their licenses. Most cases award financial compensation to patients who were harmed.
How to Implement
Now, the difficult part is implementing accurate and appropriate solutions for patient safety. There are thousands of safe practices to follow, making it difficult to get right every single time.
Communication
The biggest factor in achieving successful risk management is communication. All across the board, every person involved needs to understand not only how these practices work but why they matter.
Be sure to train all of your employees on these safety solutions. Hold them accountable for their knowledge.
Communicate to the patient as well. Be sure they understand why you are taking these precautions. Ask them to communicate back to you.
Management
It’s one thing to have your practices in place. It is another to ensure that they are being followed.
One way to manage all of those countless risk management initiatives is by using this patient safety software. It allows you to manage all of your initiatives in one place. Having software like this improves accuracy, speed, and data.
Keeping Your Patients Safe
Patients are the priority. By implementing accurate safe processes, you think is a patient-centered mindset. Understanding the importance of these initiatives puts you one step closer to your patient safety goals.
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