Surgical Errors: How Technology Can Help Prevent Them
Have you ever undergone a major surgical procedure?
This is a situation faced by millions of people each year. Having surgery is never fun, and the experience becomes even more unpleasant when errors occur. Believe it or not, at least 400,000 surgical errors occur every year in the United States, forcing people to file a surgical error lawsuit. In fact, surgical error claims are on the rise.
These errors often result in serious medical complications. This includes many deaths that are actually avoidable. Here we take a look at a list of common surgical errors and ways technology can help reduce them. Keep reading to learn more.
Technology and Medicine
It should come as no surprise that the latest forms of technology have always been embraced by the medical community. This includes various forms of medical technology going back well over one hundred years.
After all, surgeries of all kinds are complicated. That’s because they rely on accurate data to make good decisions about patient care.
As new scientific breakthroughs are introduced, the medical industry has found new and exciting ways to improve treatment methods. These methods make surgeries less invasive. They also shorten recovery time and increase the accuracy of each diagnosis.
This not only makes surgeries safer, but it also helps doctors determine whether or not certain surgical procedures are even necessary.
Common Sources of Errors
There are many types of errors that occur during surgeries. In certain cases, blame can be placed on poor judgment, having the wrong data for a specific patient, failure to provide the right equipment or misdiagnosis that lead to unnecessary treatments or procedures.
Time Pressure
Time restraints are a major contributing factor in many of the mistakes made during surgery. After all, hospitals make more money as the number of surgical procedures increases. This means that surgeons are pressured to schedule as many surgeries each day as possible.
This often results in exhaustion which leads to poor judgment and small mental errors that wouldn’t occur otherwise.
Technology helps to minimize these time pressures by reducing the amount of time required for each surgical procedure. New tech also provides advanced tools that reduce stress on surgeons so that they spend less time in the operating room each day.
These advances are beneficial for both the surgeon and patient alike.
Too Many Decision Makers
Another major source of errors made during surgery is the number of people involved in making each decision. That’s because of the massive bureaucracy involved in the medical industry.
After all, the process that leads a patient from the initial diagnosis to the operating table includes a ton of paperwork and dozens of people passing along information and opinions.
One of the keys to reducing confusion is to apply technology that helps organize important data so that everyone is able to remain on the same page from beginning to end.
As more and more hospitals invest in power computing systems and new technology, everyone is able to do their jobs more effectively so that patients receive the quality of care they need and deserve.
Complexities
Every single surgical procedure includes a certain amount of complexity. And the more complex it is, the more likely it is to create opportunities for errors.
Keep in mind that decisions in the operating room have to be major very fast. When many people are making decisions regarding complex surgical issues, disasters can occur at any moment.
Technology not only makes it faster and easier to process the data needed to accurately diagnose an endless number of medical conditions, but it only helps to simplify complex decisions and procedures.
Staff Turnover Rates
As with nearly any other industry, the healthcare industry workforce experiences a tremendously high turnover rate. Because of this, new healthcare professionals must be trained for each specific task.
This training is not only expensive but also requires a great deal of time. And, let’s be honest, new employees are more prone to make mistakes due to a lack of experience.
The latest medical technology helps reduce the time required to train new hires. Technology also makes it easy for inexperienced healthcare workers to do their jobs effectively.
It’s also important to consider the fact that advances in medical technology make jobs less stressful. This encourages long-term members of hospital staff to stay in their current jobs.
Ways Technology Can Help
The healthcare industry provides an important function in society. After all, their job is to heal the sick. And yet people are fallible.
The good news is that technology is helping to provide better tools. These tools make each surgical procedure a little bit safer. They also make it possible for healthcare professionals to do their jobs better.
Mistakes continue to occur every single day. And yet medical technology is helping to minimize those mistakes. This enables patients to be confident about the quality of the care they receive.
Here’s a resource where you can learn the difference between medical malpractice vs medical negligence.
A Guide to Common Surgical Errors
It’s no secret that having to undergo surgery can be a scary and stressful experience. Fortunately, this guide to how technology is reducing common surgical errors can help provide the peace of mind you need for your next medical procedure.
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