Mitigation of Preventable Medical Errors via the use of Human Resources and Human Factors

摘要

The purpose of this thesis is to discuss historical and current rates of preventable medical errors (PMEs), their causes, and methods used to reduce them. I will also provide recommendations that I believe can help reduce the number of injuries and deaths that result from them. Data and information used in this thesis were drawn from a variety of sources. While the large majority was sourced from articles in academic journals, government health reports, Federal Flight Administration documents, phone interviews, and personal experiences in the medical field also provided invaluable information. udTo summarize, there are two major types of preventable medical errors: structural errors and process errors. The first group involves errors that arise from issues with the structure of the medical facility (e.g. staff or equipment availability), while the second involve the commission or omission of some action by the healthcare provider (e.g. prescribing the wrong drug vs. failing to prescribe a drug at all). These error scan arise from a variety of different sources, but the primary ones are physician inattentiveness, complexity of a procedure, inexperienced healthcare providers, and breakdown in communication. Recommendations to combat these specific causes, as well as recommendations to improve patient safety overall include standardization of the entire medical industry, implementation of an anonymous reporting system, and increased education of medical personnel.ud