People would like to be sure that a hospital will provide medical help of the highest quality if something happens to their health. Every person deserves an accurate diagnosis and correct treatment. Unfortunately, cases of medical negligence still occur and can be even fatal for patients. Hospitals often take the blame because they are responsible not only for hiring qualified medical staff but also for the decisions this staff makes when treating patients. What are the common causes of hospital negligence and technologies increasing hospital effectiveness? Check out this article to learn more about it.
Examples of hospital malware and negligence
Here are some common causes of hospital negligence which are relevant today:
- The desire to reduce costs pushes hospitals to hire less staff. As a result, there are not enough doctors and nurses to work in emergency rooms. Sometimes people have to wait for a doctor for too long and suffer from late medical help.
- This point is caused by the previous one. Due to working many extra hours without proper rest, doctors and nurses experience lower performance.
- The human factor of making mistakes. Even though a patient medical card and record are one of the most important documents, a mistake in a filled-in document can lead to delayed or wrong treatment.
- The lack of medical equipment. When there is nothing or not enough equipment to use, the whole treatment of a patient can be postponed or canceled completely.
All these reasons seem to be more of a human factor. You can hire more people and buy additional equipment to eliminate these issues. But today is the time when information technology has something to offer, for example, apps that prevent cases of hospital negligence or technologies increasing medical accuracy. Read below how modern technology can literally support our lives.
Advanced inventory tracking
There are so many cases when doctors forget something inside a patient after surgery. Have you heard anything about radio-frequency identification (RFID)? Mostly, RFID chips are used for tracking inventory in various industries, but in medicine, these chips help to track surgery sponges. Each sponge has a unique barcode and is scanned in the beginning, during, and at the end of surgery. Thus, sponges are counted during the procedure, and if something goes wrong, the doctor will see that the number does not match. This technology helps to avoid post-op risks.
Simplified check-in and reduce errors
We have already talked about the fact that medical personnel can make mistakes in documents. With the help of self-service kiosks, patients can easily deal with registration and inputting correct information about themselves. Such kiosks can also help with some kinds of payments and signing documents. At the stage of registration, patients can take care of themselves, and the staff can arrange working time more efficiently by helping others.
Machine learning and computer diagnosis
Have you ever googled your symptoms and looked for diagnosis? Of course, the results the search comes up with are very unreliable, and you have to go to a doctor anyway. But can you imagine a system analyzing your symptoms and diagnosing you with 99% accuracy? Moreover, it will choose the most optimal treatment for you according to personal information.
Some cases of medical malpractice occur due to misdiagnosis. The accuracy of your diagnosis and treatment may depend on the qualifications of the doctor. Needless to say that a one with more doctoral practice will be more efficient than a junior specialist. And if your situation is not typical, you may end up consulting several doctors before you receive a final diagnosis.
Machine learning is limited neither by memory capabilities nor doctoral practice. All it needs is as much information as it can get from the Internet. Hypothetically, any computer can be updated with the latest medical knowledge, even if it is specific.
In the cutting-edge world, technology has taken a big part in almost every industry and every life. The same is in healthcare day-by-day technology helps saving lives, diagnose, treat, and operate people successfully. The great impact of modern technology is undeniable and obvious from a patient and a doctor’s point of view. The implementation of malpractice preventing technologies should bring fewer deaths and misdiagnoses to the healthcare industry.
However, sometimes modern technologies fail, and it can happen for quite a few reasons, but one of the most significant is the human factor. To be able to operate any technology, a user should be fully aware of how to use it, whether it is an application or some kinds of equipment.
Lack of experience or low understanding of the hardware may cause damage both to the equipment and a patient. And, of course, there is a chance of being wrongly diagnosed by a system due to malfunctioning or internal issues.
Final word
To prevent hospital malpractice and negligence, people should thoroughly approach this problem. Hire a sufficient number of employees, purchase enough consumables and equipment, monitor the competence of the medical staff. And, of course, keep up with the times and be aware of all technological innovations in the healthcare industry. Advanced healthcare technologies are beneficial for hospitals, doctors, and patients. They make certain procedures easier, better track of medical records, and eliminate human errors. The result positively impacts hospitals’ reputation, negligence claims, and the healthiness of the work environment in general.
