Conclusion

6 Medical errors are one of the major ongoing issues in the healthcare system of the U.S. It can happen in a variety of healthcare organizations including hospital, nursing homes, home care, or clinics. The occurrence of medical errors is increasing in number at very fast rate, and it is necessary to reduce the chances of occurrence of such errors. Medical errors can happen during procedures, surgery, medication, equipment, or lab reports. One of the major reason behind the existence of errors is communication problems between patient and healthcare provider. Medical errors also cause an increase in healthcare costs at a very fast rate that affects the healthcare system as a whole. To reduce medical errors, it is important to educate patients about their health problems and medicines, make them comfortable to ask questions and encourage them to participate in making decisions related to their health. The organizational structure, governance, culture, or social responsibility are also known to affect the rate of occurrence of medical errors. There are many ethical issues associated with the medical errors i.e. causing harm to the patient, loss of respect and trust bonding between patient and provider, or not revealing the errors. Some of the ways to prevent the medical errors are the management of better documentation, patient safety program introduction, and reporting errors.

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