Have you taken steps recently to improve management practices at your healthcare facility? Unfortunately, due to staffing shortages and rising patient volume, medical errors have become a problem at facilities across the country. Facilities that are proactive in preventing medical errors through various initiatives tend to experience better staff retention and patient satisfaction. Here are some ways in which your management team can prevent medical errors within your facility:
Streamline communication.
At fast-paced healthcare facilities, effective communication is often key to successful patient outcomes. Taking steps to streamline communication across your facility’s departments and providers can dramatically improve the trajectory of patient care for many reasons. First, all a patient’s providers will be fully informed about every facet of their medical status and care plan. Second, streamlined communication will reduce the stress on patients of having to constantly discuss their medical records with different providers. Often internal communications can be improved through the implementation of advanced electronic medical record systems and other related technologies.
Promote interdisciplinary collaboration.
Similar to streamlined communication is the idea that all healthcare workers and providers should be mutually connected and informed about one another’s role in a patient’s care. At large facilities with several medical practices, this may mean establishing regular interactions between pharmacists and other departments or implementing a rotation of providers depending on patients’ ongoing needs. Collaboration can occur in many forms; therefore, facilities must decide which practices result in the best results for patients and ultimately improve the facilitation of care on all levels.
Make patient safety a top priority.
Patient safety is paramount when implementing healthcare management that’s as thorough and comprehensive as possible. There are a multitude of ways to engage your staff to promote patient safety. This can include educating patients about their medical usage; following strict guidelines and regulations for all procedures and surgeries at your facility; and empowering patients to call their physicians or nurses with any questions about their medical conditions or treatment plans.
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