Human error is common in clinical practice, yet it is usually under-reported. The causes and effects of medical errors are poorly understood as a result of this under-reporting.
Studies continue to show the prevalence of medication errors and the high incidence of adverse drug events, or drug-related injuries.
As a result, adopting digital platforms and strengthening the digital healthcare ecosystem will significantly reduce medical and drug errors in both the private and public healthcare sectors, leading to improved patient outcomes and lower healthcare costs.
Dr. Yaseen Khan, the co-founder, and CEO of digital healthcare platform EMGuidance says studies show that around 8% of hospital patients show adverse reactions to treatment and half of these are preventable.
Although most medical errors do not result in major harm or death, a significant number can have the potential to seriously harm patients through side effects like permanent neurological damage.
“Many of the successes and failures of healthcare can be traced to a single point in the system – that is, doctors making effective decisions with their patients,” he said in a statement.
The National Library of Medicine cites exhaustion brought on by long hours on the job 65% of the time, inadequate experience, poor supervision (48%), and difficult cases (45%), among other common causes of medical errors.
Part of the problem is that the world of medicine is constantly evolving, with scientific discoveries, and the efficacy of medicines emerging almost daily as well as the implementation of tech advancements.
Although digitisation of the healthcare sector has focused on digitising existing processes and workflows, there has been relatively little movement toward providing relevant and practical clinical and medicines intelligence that empowers better decisions at the point of care.
Dr. Khan points out that medical practitioners aren’t given access to digital technologies that allow complete and up-to-date transparency of local drug prices in South Africa. As a result, they cannot choose what is best for their patients.
Even though improvement in digitisation has been relatively slow, the medical industry has made some groundbreaking innovations in treatment care, i.e computerised dosage monitoring for chemotherapy.
The computer calculates the body surface area, displays the calculation, and asks if it is correct. The dose is then compared to a dose chart with daily and weekly dose limitations. The order is stopped if a dose limit is exceeded until it can be examined and approved.
By using automated dispensing systems, medicines can be stored at a location and dispensed only to specific patients, reducing prescription filling error rates etc.
Dr. Khan points out that substantial investment has been made in the research and development of modern medicines, and must be provided a platform where healthcare professionals can tap into that support in a transparent, unbiased manner.
Read the latest issue of IOL Health digital magazine here.