Primary Care
Primary Care is the frontline of health care. When we are unwell our first port of call is usually our doctor, or our local pharmacist; or even our dentist or optometrist. In the majority of cases, primary care produces good results. Whether they are delivered at the primary care stage or following referral to a hospital.
However, a 2016 study by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) concluded that malpractice (i.e. medical negligence) in primary care is understudied. The most common cause of medical negligence is the failure to diagnose an illness, condition or syndrome, or a delay in diagnosing. But medical professionals can also make mistakes when recommending or prescribing medication, failing to refer to a specialist, or even failing to warn of the risks associated with a treatment plan.
The BMJ study also concluded that cancer and heart attacks are the most common health issues that lead to medical negligence claims. In children it’s meningitis. What these all have in common is their seriousness and the increased likelihood of mortality if not correctly treated.
The Consequences
More than ever, medical professionals are aware that malpractice doesn’t only have severe ramifications on patients and their loved ones.
Why? Because the damage caused by negligence casts a very wide net indeed. Loss of public trust in the medical profession, health budgets hit by compensation paid to victims and their loved ones, rises in national insurance and private health insurance premiums, medical careers destroyed; and even over-cautiousness exercised by medical professionals in order to safeguard against the risk of mistakes being made.
Now, more than ever, the need for accurate, up to date, and easy access patient and medical data is critical. Artificial intelligence and machine learning provided by cloud-based systems, such as those provided by Quartz Clinical, is one way to help healthcare professionals diagnose and treat patients more effectively.
With so many medical professionals readily available to us; it’s in our best interest, as well as theirs, to have more centralized systems for data management. The highly accurate predictive analytics means that our doctors will now be better equipped to predict what our immediate health needs may be. This, in turn, means better healthcare and less chance of patients victims of medical malpractice.
What Next?
There are those who say that with the unprecedented pressures being faced by national or state-run health services, the last thing it needs is an increase in the amount of compensation it pays out. I see their point, but medical negligence claims can also act as a deterrent to poor medical practice; hence improving health care overall.
Don’t get me wrong, I think state-run health services are a wonderful thing, and having grown up in the USA, I know what I’m talking about! I can’t help but think that healthcare really needs to be given the social and moral priority it deserves. Not just be seen by those in authority as just one of the many competing priority issues we face.
It’s an interesting subject, isn’t it? I’d love to know what you think.
