When you or someone in your family needs to go to the doctor or to the hospital, you deserve the right to trust that you will receive a high level of care. Most of the time, Missouri residents do get good medical care, but medical errors can and do occur. These errors may result in anything from minor inconveniences to the death of a patient. At Hall Ansley PC, advocating for patients and families who have experienced medical mistakes is our mission.
According to Becker’s Hospital Review, poor communication contributes to many mistakes made by medical professionals. One study found that in addition to exposing patients to potential harm, communication problems or gaps cost hospitals as much as $12 billion every year. Outdated technology systems or multiple technology communication tools that do not connect well with each other comprise some of the problems facing the medical community and patients.
Another study implemented a new communication protocol at seven children’s hospitals and tracked the outcomes over a period of time lasting just over two years. At the end of the period, they noted a decrease by 38% in preventable adverse events. The protocol included the required use of everyday language versus hard-to-understand medical verbiage. It also required patients to repeat what they heard from medical teams to prevent misunderstandings about recommendations.
If you would like to learn more about how you might get proper help and guidance after you or a loved one may have been impacted by poor communication or other factors, please feel free to visit the health care errors and injuries page of our Missouri medical malpractice website.