Topics:
- How to reduce human error in Ascs
- The cycle of interactions in terms of care to patients
- The ASC revolution
- patient safety is always a priority
- human error in data Collection
- human factors in medical errors
How to reduce human error in ASCs
The issue of How to reduce human error in ASCs is the major concern of quality improvement. This is directly related to the causes and incidence of human errors.
Them is a root for unfavorable events related to surgery. Identifying opportunities to boost patient safety will directly emanate from this. Everything in this matter revolves around patient safety.
The cycle of interactions in terms of care to patients
Before answering how to reduce human error in ASCs, we need to shed light on the cycle of interactions in terms of patient care. It involves the patient, family, friends, and medical staff. Ambulatory surgery centers are one of the organizations involving this kind of interaction.
And the performance within these interactions defines production. Effective and safe interactions are therefore required with a focus on patient safety. ASC involves the following interactions that should be controlled during the patient’s journey:
- Task interactions
- Interpersonal interactions
- Interactions with tools and technology
- Interaction with the organization
The ASC revolution
As you know, The ASC revolution has conquered the healthcare environment. You all are aware that ASC stands for ambulatory surgery centers. By definition, ASCs are contemporary healthcare facilities that provide surgical care in one day.
Namely, preventive procedures, diagnostics, and surgery. They replace hospital-oriented outpatient procedures. Additionally, they need a firm track record of positive patient outcomes and quality care. Why choose Ambulatory surgery centers over standard hospitals?
- A smaller cost: ASCs are up to 60% less costly than hospitals. This brings benefits to taxpayers, insurers, and patients. Of course, this doesn’t affect quality in any way. Surprisingly, ASCs offer higher care quality.
- Safety: the cleaner and safer environment is provided within ASC facilities. Not only does the patient’s health history get checked. Patients with contagious illnesses are prevented from having surgery inside ASCs.
- Accessibility and convenience: Doctors have more control over the workflow inside ASCs. They can offer patient care from A to Z. Also, the location of ASCs is easier to access and more convenient.
- Time: nobody likes to stay at hospitals. Not even doctors. You can spend 26% less time inside the healthcare facility with ASCs. Hence, children prefer these solutions as well as adults due to stress reduction.
- Foreseeable scheduling: surgery scheduling is easier at outpatient surgery centers. In consequence, less delaying and rescheduling happens in comparison to other hospitals.
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Patient safety is always a priority
First off, patient safety is always a priority. Ambulatory surgery centers care for patient safety culture. This is the main reason behind the creation of many surveys that include patient safety measurements to reduce human error. Patient safety can be assessed by examining the performance of doctors, and staff and ensuring patient safety. If you want to know if your facility or any other is performing well in this regard, ask:
- Do you relay the main patient care information across all facility areas?
- Is the training available for all staff?
- Do patients feel at ease asking questions when in doubt?
- Is there enough staff to take care of the workload?
- Does the staff speak up when something wrong happens?
- Could the facility value new ideas?
- Is the overloaded person getting help?
- Does the management change the processes when needed?
Human Error in data collection
Patients perceive human error in data collection after ambulatory visits. A big percentage of the mistakes that the patients perceive are significant. The most common mistakes relate to sidedness, notes on the wrong patient, test results, physical examination, medications, medical history, and diagnoses.
Mistakes are common
Mistakes are common and include errors in electronic medical records (EMRs). Correcting EMR errors is crucial to improve medical performance and preventing surgical mistakes. With the transparency culture spreading, everyone can spot these mistakes and help edit them. The working environment and pace usually lead to such errors. Finding out the root causes reduces the errors when these are reported. Also, this allows for predicting possible errors before they happen and reducing their occurrences.
human factors in medical errors
human factors in medical errors can always occur despite the heavy training healthcare professionals receive. As human beings, we all have limited attention spans. Thus, performing worse when tired. In health care, errors are more critical. Always attempts to re-organize the system with the organization’s tools and structure to improve the error margin. Methods for such attempts are useful for:
- reducing burnout
- improving the job satisfaction of the doctors
- decreasing inefficiencies
- reducing the task that adds zero value
- boosting the communication between patient and care provider
- enhancing care centered around patient and family
- increasing delivery of medicine based on evidence
- minimizing clinician errors
Assessment of the environment!
To cut it short, How to reduce human error in ASCs requires assessing again and again, the environment. Now you learned more about patient safety within ASC and how to improve it.
Remember, human error is very normal, but within healthcare, it becomes critical. Here, everything counts. From safe medication storage to improving safety in surgeries or preventing technical or human errors.
To ensure your practice is error-free, ask us questions and our team at Ambula Healthcare: (805) 55-82418! And now check out this Patient satisfaction survey!
About the Author: Khalil
