Study Shows Better Communication Reduces Chances of Medication Errors
December 30, 2013
Errors made by doctors are one of the most common causes of drug injuries. Too often, medical professionals fail to give patients the proper dosage of a medication and reports have also been seen of patients receiving the wrong drug all together. In fact, the Arkansas Drug Injury Lawyers with Rainwater, Holt & Sexton point out statistics showing these errors harm as many as 7,000 patients per year.
These errors leave many citizens concerned as to what actions can be taken to better protect patients from the harm of medication errors. A new study has shown that better communication between patients and medical staff may be an answer to this problem.
According to an article from The Clinical Advisor, researchers examined the cases of 1,255 patient admissions by 84 different physicians. They observed the handoff processes that took place before a patient checked out and determined the rate of medication errors.
The same medical professionals then underwent a two-hour communication training course combined with a discussion on how best to handle patient handoff practices. Following the sessions, researchers recorded a decrease in medication errors that ranged from 18.3 to 33.8 percent.
Rainwater, Holt & Sexton’s team of Arkansas Personal Injury Lawyers recognize the dangers posed by medication errors and hope this most recent research can be implemented in finding ways to reduce the number of drug injuries.
