When it comes to your medical care, seek providers who understand the importance of thorough communication. Without proper communication between medical providers, numerous problems can arise. Miscommunication can decrease your safety Miscommunication Between Providers. Not only that, but it can have a detrimental impact on your overall health. If medical miscommunication has poorly affected you, you have one option. That option is to consider hiring a medical malpractice lawyer. A lawyer can help when your life is negatively impacted after your providers fail to properly communicate.
How Miscommunication Between Providers Affects Your Safety
Poor communication between medical providers is unfortunately a common occurrence. Experts estimate that between 70% and 80% of serious medical errors are preventable. A large number of communication errors happen in ambulatory care settings. Some results of these communication failures are mere inconveniences. On the other hand, some can be fatal. Fatalities can occur from communication issues. Death can result from drug protocol inconsistencies and more.
Inconsistent Drug Protocols
In a hospital setting where multiple doctors provide your care, they need to keep your prescription list current. This means that the dosage and frequency of your medications need to be up to date as well. When medical professionals fail to do this, it can fragment the look of your medical history. If a provider adds a medication, they need to add it to your medication list immediately. Nearly every medication available on the market has some sort of side effects. With that said, some medications can interfere with others you are taking. In fact, it can lead to serious health complications if you take the wrong medicines at the same time. In addition to that, a provider may duplicate an order for a prescription that you are already taking. This can lead to harm and even overdosing in some cases.
Some providers give their nurses and staff verbal orders. These verbal orders can regard medication changes they are ordering for you. Sometimes specialists even write out these prescription change requests. The doctor may have one thing in mind, but that doesn’t mean the information is fully communicated. The nursing staff might have trouble understanding the new order. This is due to the prescription order being too vague. Vague prescription orders are frequently missing the dosage amount you need to receive. They can also be missing the frequency at which you need to receive the medication. When a nurse has to hunt down the doctor to obtain the missing information, it can cause a delay in your treatment. In some cases, a nurse might opt to read between the lines and guess. This is never a good option as it can lead to high risk and sometimes life-threatening consequences.
When nurses and doctors are in the midst of a shift change, it can play a part in medication issues. In a rush to get the shift over or move on to a patient in distress, handover information may be incomplete. Information that can affect your life, such as allergies, is sometimes not communicated at all. Medical professionals can also fail to mention changes in medication timing. An example is not disclosing a change in the administration of a medication from every six hours to every four. This is a severe issue when it comes to your discharge paperwork. Your discharge paperwork should be current with the full list of medications. Unfortunately, some studies reflect that 40% of discharge papers do not contain a full list.
Patient Safety Consequences
When your providers fail to communicate, it can lead to major safety consequences. In a professional setting where you go to obtain help, this is simply not acceptable. Poor communication leads to issues like treatment delays and high readmission numbers.
Treatment Delays
When communication between providers is misunderstood or simply never occurs, it can lead to treatment delays. Delaying treatment can result in serious problems. In addition, it can also lead to diagnostic errors. These problems can create conditions where a disease can rapidly progress. When communication issues cause treatment delays, it reduces the effective window for treatments. It can also reduce the option for other interventions. Some common miscommunication issues include test interpretations and initial assumptions. When these are not clearly discussed between providers, it can cause inaccurate diagnoses. A provider may order a test too late for the results to matter. In other cases, they may not read or receive the results in a timely enough manner. Many issues stem from problems like this, such as outdated or a completely missed diagnosis.
Readmission Rates
Some providers suffer from cognitive bias issues that can increase readmission rates. They will focus on and look for information that only supports their initial thought. If your condition changes, they may completely fail to accurately diagnose the problem. Providers can overlook crucial symptoms. As a result, they fail to communicate them to the rest of your care team. If all your symptoms are not taken seriously, your condition may worsen. This means that if you get discharged, you may need to go back for another evaluation.
Preventing Provider Miscommunication
Clear communication between providers is a necessity when it comes to your health. Miscommunication can lead to serious health outcomes that, in many cases, are preventable. When you are receiving care, you need to speak up immediately when something doesn’t sound right. Have your doctor or nurse clarify information before they leave the room. You need to verify documents such as the visit summary. Ensure it lists all of your medications, dosages, and how frequently to take them. When possible, try to have a support person there with you. A support person, such as a friend, can take notes for you and help keep communication clear. There are times when these steps you take still won’t prevent communication failures. When you become a victim of provider communication failures, seek the help of an experienced medical malpractice lawyer.
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