Medical errors are one of the leading causes of patient deaths and one major factor is the lack of coordination between members of the medical team treating a patient, said an organisation that focuses on promoting healthcare quality and patient safety in the healthcare sector.
Better coordination among members of the medical team, including doctors, openness to criticism and more awareness among patients can reduce medical errors, said office bearers of the Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organizations (CAHO), ahead of a two-day conference starting from Saturday.
CAHOCON 2024 is expected to have around 2,000 delegates discussing how to make healthcare efficient, effective, economical and equitable, said organisers.
“Medical error is a huge problem and is the third leading cause of death in the US. There are huge amounts of litigations also,” Vijay Agarwal, president of CAHO, said on Friday. CAHO is a not-for-profit organisation, representing healthcare institutions, diagnostic centres and quality professionals aiming to promote patient safety, quality and accreditation in the healthcare system.
Agarwal said there was a trust deficit between the patient and doctor in India and medical errors were also responsible for that. “One should start tracking the preventable medical errors.”
According to Agarwal, not one individual is to be blamed for the trust deficit and medical errors, but it is a problem of the system.
Another factor of trust deficit between patients and doctors is treatment cost, he added. “Patients often feel they are made to undergo unnecessary and expensive tests, which may be true at times but new equipment is expensive.”
Lallu Joseph, secretary general, CAHO and associate GS and quality manager, Christian Medical College, Vellore, said the organisation has taken up a programme for patient sensitisation.
“Patients should know to ask the right questions about treatment to the doctors,” said Joseph.
Rupak Barua, organising chairman of CAHOCON 2024 and president, Association of Hospitals of Eastern India, said efficient and effective healthcare meant less cost for the patient and reduced medical errors.
“In Calcutta, private hospitals have created strong audit systems to improve the quality of healthcare,” said Barua.
“The conference would give a further boost in terms of quality patient care and safety,” he said.