Why Communication Errors
Exists in Healthcare
Better communication can reduce
medical errors and patient injury. Poor
communication can result in various negative outcomes. Communication
problems were a contributing factor in 7,149 cases (30 percent) of 23,000
medical malpractice claims filed between 2009 and 2013, and included 1,744
deaths and $1.7 billion in hospital costs In
addition, 37 percent of all high-severity injury cases involved communication
failures. Common breakdowns in communication include miscommunication about a
patient's condition, inadequate informed consent, poor documentation and an
unsympathetic response to a patient's complaint.
[1] https://www.candello.com
[2] Lafferty
M, Harrod M, Krein S, Manojlovich M. It's like sending a message in a bottle: A
qualitative study of the consequences of one-way communication technologies in
hospitals. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2021 Nov 25;28(12):2601-2607. doi:
10.1093/jamia/ocab191. PMID: 34569593; PMCID: PMC8763228.
Time constraints and high patient volumes can mean that providers may not have
enough time to fully communicate about each patient especially when care involves
multiple providers, departments, and systems that may not always work together
seamlessly. Medical PDQ communication and scheduling tools help hospitals and
ambulatory centers to address these challenges and improve communication
between patients and their healthcare providers.
Why aren’t others solving the
communication problem in healthcare?
While many individuals and organizations are working to
address communication challenges in healthcare, it remains a difficult problem
to fully address due to its complexity and the multitude of factors involved. Technology that can be learned
quickly, used easily and customized individually will offer more convenience
than inconvenience. Using technology that enables these best practices can
foster a sense of connection, teamwork, and collaboration. A communication platform that
provides responsiveness and accountability along with speed can ameliorate both
staff distress and complications or dissatisfaction from preventable waits.
Consider the example of a surgical
tech paging a surgeon or a nurse paging a physician. With traditional paging,
if the physician does not respond, there’s no way of knowing whether or not the
physician has received the page. A more complete communication platform can
track the message, receipt, and response. That benefits the nurse, who knows
whether to send a page again or contact an alternate physician. The
recordkeeping function supports greater accountability for hospital operations
as a whole. A two-way communication tool with preset options allows physicians
to confirm receipt and availability almost instantly, with minimal effort. As a
result, nurses receive quick assurance that support is on the way.
When it comes to
communication technology, choice, convenience and flexibility facilitate both
implementation and adoption. A multi-modal solution allows users to communicate
using technologies they already know, including email, page, fax, voice, or
text, from any smartphone,
tablet, laptop, or desktop. A communication platform specifically designed for
healthcare environments is also easily adaptable to medical and surgical team
needs.
Providing Value to Healthcare
Enterprise Systems
Medical PDQ helps improve efficiency by
streamlining communication and reducing the need for multiple phone calls or
faxes to exchange patient information. This leads to significant time savings
for healthcare providers and allow them to focus more on patient care.
Our platform will reduce your costs by minimizing errors and unnecessary
procedures. By having access to all relevant patient information in one place,
providers can make more informed decisions about treatment options and avoid
duplicative efforts.
Team Communication is the Heartbeat of Patient Care
Medical PDQ recognizes that
effective communication and cooperation among healthcare providers are
essential to providing high-quality care. By bringing together all relevant
communication in one place, Medical PDQ enables providers to work together more
efficiently and effectively. This improves patient outcomes by ensuring that
all providers have access to the same information and are working towards the
same goals.
Medical PDQ promotes engagement, which helps to improve communication between
patients and providers and foster a collaborative approach to care. Overall,
Medical PDQ sees collaboration as essential to improving healthcare outcomes
and delivering better patient-centered care.
Two-way communication can go a long
way in helping healthcare teams work together more effectively. Care
coordination has become increasingly complex in modern healthcare facilities.
Patients tend to be older, taking more medications, and suffering from chronic
conditions that will not be resolved during a hospital stay. These factors have
made admission, treatment, and discharge more complicated than ever before.
This can be especially true in
the emergency department and operating room, where patients can run the gamut
from trauma victims to repeat visitors lacking access to regular care. Nurses
are called upon to prioritize not only patients, but also lab results, beds,
transportation, and hospital admissions. Likewise, when it is time for
discharge, a mobile communication device allow physicians and nurses to call
housekeeping, transportation, and other needed services without roaming the
hospital.
