Impact of Medical Errors and Malpractice on Health Economics, Quality, and Patient Safety

Precise and flawless medical practice is imperative due to the delicate nature of patient lives and health. Without methods and technologies to detect medical mistakes, many lives would be compromised.

Impact of Medical Errors and Malpractice on Health Economics, Quality, and Patient Safety is an essential reference source for the latest research on the detection and analysis of the various implications of medical errors and addresses the hidden malpractices that exist in healthcare systems globally. Featuring extensive coverage on a broad range of topics such as clinical pathways, decision-making techniques, and health information technology, this book is ideally designed for practitioners, professionals, and researchers seeking current research on various issues in healthcare provision.

"This book describes how to decrease the number of medical errors using quality control methods. The intended audience is employees or service providers, from leadership to frontline, in healthcare. The authors make the point that medical facilities need to learn from the example of the private sector to provide quality services, and the book gives many examples. The book describes the formal and informal behaviors that may lead to errors and how to prevent them. It provides examples of stress and fatigue as human errors that are preventable and models for understanding of errors. One striking feature is the explanation of the SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) communication tool. It is explained clearly, so that anyone could use it for a communication tool to limit errors. The book also describes the use of a checklist and how it could alleviate many errors if followed. This book is easy to read and paints a clear picture of methods to reduce medical error." - Doody's Book Reviews, Elizabeth D. King, MSN, BSN, RN, CRST (James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital)