When a birth injury occurs due to medical malpractice or medical error, it mars the joyous occasion of a new life entering the world. Health care providers who work in obstetrics are treating two patients, mother and child. As such, opportunities for human error are doubled, along with the number of potential victims. Fortunately, there are medical errors which can be prevented with better health care provider communication and adherence to safety protocols.

Every hospital maintains different protocols regarding its birthing and obstetric protocols. Hospitals where coordinated patient care and safety protocols are high priorities generally have a much lower rate of live birth complications and fewer birth injuries. However, in hospitals where safety protocols are impeded or not prioritized, the rate of injuries related to medical error can be significantly higher.

To help decrease incidences of medical error, doctors and health care workers must be given the support by their organizations that enables them to make preventing patient injury their first priority.

Several hospitals have made procedural changes to improve the quality of their obstetric care and prevent medical error as well as birth injuries. Many of those organizations are now seeing a drastic shift in their statistics due to their implementation of improved safety protocols.

• The NY Presbyterian Hospital now boasts some of the nation’s lowest numbers of brain injuries resulting from oxygen deprivation in newborns.
• The Hospital Corporation of America was able to achieve an 87 percent reduction in the fatality rate of pulmonary embolism in delivering mothers.
• Ascension Health achieved an 85 percent reduction in brain trauma in newborns at its birthing facilities that adopted a revised program of best practices during live birth delivery.  

Hospital data shows that the frequency of medical errors and devastating results, such as newborn brain injuries, can be greatly reduced when safety protocols are implemented at the organizational level. Appropriate staffing levels, coordinated patient care, and a limit to procedures such as C-section births are some of the ways that health care organizations have achieved lower medical malpractice rates in the field of obstetrics.  

If your family member suffered harm because of a childbirth medical error, please contact an experienced Westport medical malpractice attorney today. Richard H. Raphael, Attorney at Law, works hard to protect the rights of patients of all ages and holds the health care industry accountable for providing the safest level of care possible. Call (203) 226-6168 today to schedule your free initial consultation. 

A study conducted by researchers from multiple hospitals and led by Boston Children’s Hospital revealed that injuries caused by medical errors could be reduced as much as 30 percent if there were better communications between clinicians during patient hand-offs.

Medical errors are one of the leading causes of death in this country. Almost 80 percent of those errors – which are caused by issues such as diagnostic delays, medication overdoses, and preventable surgical complications – are found to have originated in miscommunications between medical personnel, especially during the times of patient hand-offs.

Details and results of the study were reported in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). Boston Children’s Hospital was the lead site in the study. Brigham and Women’s Hospital, also located in Boston, was in charge of coordinating all the data. The other hospitals involved included:

• Benioff Children’s Hospital, San Francisco, in conjunction with University of California San Francisco;
• Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, in conjunction with University of Cincinnati;
• Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, Portland, OR in conjunction with Oregon Health Sciences University;
• The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, in conjunction with University of Toronto;
• Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Palo Alto, CA in conjunction with Stanford University;
• Primary Children’s Hospital, Salt Lake City, in conjunction with University of Utah;
• St. Louis Children’s Hospital, St. Louis, MO, in conjunction with Washington University St. Louis;
• St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, in conjunction with Drexel University; and
• Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

The study focused on what benefits using the I-PASS system, which utilizes bundled communication and training tools for hand-off of patient care between providers, would have in reducing medical errors. The acronym stands for Illness severity, Patient summary, Action list, Situational awareness and contingency planning, and Synthesis by receiver. The I-PASS system utilizes:

• Standardized communication and hand-off training for all medical facilities;
• Sharing patient information using computerized programs which utilized the I-PASS structure; and
• Attending physicians overseeing and observing hand-offs of their patients.

The study lasted for 18 months. In the first six months, medical staff was monitored and assessed. For the second six months, medical staff was trained on the I-PASS system and required to use the system. The last six months also involved monitoring and assessing staff.

By using the I-PASS system, the overall rate of medical errors declined from 23 percent. For every 100 admissions, the number of medical errors went from 24.5 to 18.8. Injuries caused by medical errors fell by 30 percent. For every 100 admission, the number of patients injured went from 4.7 to 3.3.

If you have been injured as a result of a medical error, contact an experienced Westport, CT medical malpractice attorney to find out what compensation you may be entitled to for your pain and loss. Call 203-226-6168 for a free consultation with Richard H. Raphael, Attorney at Law.

Once a year, the majority of people visit their primary care physician for an annual medical exam. This exam is commonly referred to as a “check-up,” and the goal is to do just that—check to make sure a person is medically heathy and to provide an early diagnosis of any health issues in which a person may not even be aware.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the top three diseases which kill more people each year are cardiovascular diseases, cancers and diabetes. However, early diagnosis and treatment for these diseases can greatly increase the chances of a person’s long-term survival.

A new study, however, shows that almost 80 percent of people in this country who suffer from undiagnosed diabetes are actually seeing their physicians on a regular basis—often at least two to three times a year. Yet, doctors are not recognizing symptoms and treating patients for the disease. This leaves about eight million people totally unaware they are suffering from diabetes.

The study reviewed over 30,000 medical patients from around the country and discovered that three in every 10 patients were suffering from diabetes, but their doctors had failed to diagnose it. Almost 85 percent of those patients had a primary care physician whom they saw at least once a year, and almost 70 percent of those patients reported seeing their physician at least twice during the preceding 12 months.

Diabetes is the number one cause of kidney failure, blindness in adults, and limb amputation. When a person is suffering from diabetes, his or her body is not using insulin correctly. Insulin is a hormone that is used by the body to process sugar that comes from food. Insulin turns that sugar into fuel, which the body’s cells need for energy. People suffering from diabetes often experience fatigue, slow healing times for scrapes and cuts, and blurred vision.

A doctor’s failure to diagnose diabetes, or any other disease, can cause a patient to suffer serious illness. If you suspect you are a victim of a doctor’s failure to diagnose, please contact an experienced Westport medical malpractice attorney to find out what legal recourse you may have for your pain and suffering.