Most Will Experience At Least One Medical Error
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- Most Will Experience At Least One Medical Error
A recent report by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine reveals the majority of Americans will experience a minimum of one diagnostic error during their lifetime. These diagnostic errors include such things as delayed or inaccurate diagnoses, improperly prescribed medications, and even unnecessary or botched surgeries.
The consequences of a medical error on a patients mental and physical health can be severe.
Until now, diagnostic errors have not garnered much attention, according to Victor Dzau, president of the National Academy of Medicine. This newly released report serves as a wake-up call to improve how diagnoses are made.
Diagnoses are often team efforts that extend from physicians, to medical technicians, to nursing staff. Errors in diagnosing are not new, but this report brings to light the importance of understanding and minimizing such errors.
Several causes of diagnostic errors include:
- A culture that does not encourage honesty about diagnostic errors when they occur.
- An improper amount of feedback for physicians regarding how accurate diagnoses are.
- Lack of communication between patients, their families, and doctors.
Health care, as an industry, is becoming more complicated, and therefore diagnostic errors are on the rise. However, experts recommend several ways to overcome the challenges of diagnostic errors and to help lessen the chance of a medical error occurring. These expert recommendations include:
- Reforming the medical liability system to foster honesty and to reveal diagnostic errors when they occur.
- Encouraging patients and family members to get involved in the diagnosis procedure.
- Physicians and health organizations providing patients with information regarding their diagnosis.
- Improving electronic health records to include test results and doctors notes.
- Fostering an environment conducive to patient feedback and/or questions about potential errors.
- Creating systems within healthcare organizations to help distinguish diagnostic errors.
If you have suffered because of a diagnostic error, contact one of the skilled medical malpractice lawyers at Phillips Law Group today.
Call 1-800-706-3000 or fill out our FREE Case Evaluation Form today and learn more about your options from a licensed Phoenix, AZ personal injury lawyer.
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PLG is the best! Highly recommend. Love that they do so much to help the community.
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Working at Phillips Law Group has been great the 1st few years in I noticed how well organized and run this Firm was from Intake to Settlement the Client has the expertise of a staff member uniquely qualified for the particular stage of each Clients claim and all other Law firms try to emulate what we do here but none quite get it right because they lack one major component “Compassion”. We are a FAMILY not just a group of people/employees. We care deeply about each other and our clients’ we are considerate, compassionate and make sure that all our Clients’ needs are met from beginning to end. That’s because we treat our clients just like we treat each other. Nothing like walking through the office and saying Hello to fellow employees who always seem to be smiling. 16yrs in and it only seems to be getting better.
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They knew exactly how to explain the case to me in a way that I would understand it. They gave me hope that my life wasn’t over.
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I would like to thank Vanessa Rodriguez for helping me with my case because I was in total shock about the accident. She had listened to all my concerns and had answered every question I had . She was great !!!
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My Attorney Sean Davis and his paralegal Hannah Dustin worked on my case. They listened to the problems that I was having with my case and they both got right to work. First they found me a doctor that actually listened to my problems from my car accident and worked quickly to form a plan that was comfortable for me and the doctor. The doctor was the best and after a couple of procedures the pain in my neck was gone. Behind the scenes Sean and Hannah were working hard to get my case settled with the insurance company. They kept in contact with me on all aspects of my case. They settled my case much faster than I expected and for more than I was expecting. If you want two real professional legal people to work on your case, I would highly recommend Sean and Hannah to you. I cannot say enough nice things about these two. Thank you so much, Rickey Hart .
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