Top Ten Preventable Medical Errors

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The most common medical errors that injure or kill patients are all preventable. Dr. Barry Bialek, MD is a board-certified family physician practicing in Colorado and author of “The Ten Most Common Medical Errors in the US” published by CoverMD. In his article, Dr. Bialek points out that doctors have a duty to prevent medical errors to improve patient safety and protect their own career. According to Dr. Bialek, the top ten medical errors in this country are:
1)Technical medical errors which include improper or wrong medical procedures
2)Failure to use indicated tests to assist in the diagnosis of an illness
3)Avoidable delay in treatment
4)Failure to take precautions such as the standard “time out” prior to surgery
5)Failure to act on test results
6)Inadequate monitoring after a procedure
7)Inadequate patient preparation prior to a procedure
8)Inadquate follow-up after treatment
9)Avoidable delay in diagnosis
10)Improper medication dosage and/or method of use
As you can see, these are all avoidable and preventable medical errors that cost 100,000 lives in the United States.

Holly Haines
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