A Response to the Professor
Why is ‘Making care safer and reducing harm’ so elusive?
The answer to this question is simply because to err is human. No matter how precarious a person may intend to be, erring happens. The reasons vary, including staff fatigue, incompetence, miscommunication, pressure to complete tasks and save as many lives as possible, and distractions, among others (Bari et al., 2016). So, while physicians or nurses may be competent at performing a procedure, a minor or major distraction can cause a wrong move to be made and result in patient harm.
What are we doing wrong that the airline industry has mastered?
I don’t believe there is anything that healthcare is doing wrong, and comparing it to the airline industry is, in my opinion, a little overboard. This is because, for starters, airplanes are machines that can and are frequently checked by professionals to ensure that they are in good working condition before they lift off. Additionally, an airplane has two sets of skilled hands, minds, eyes, etc, as a pilot and co-pilot fly them. Although, for example, a theatre will always be flanked by the surgeon and other personnel, the human body is unpredictable. Unfortunately, God did not create Adam with a manual that would guide him on how to resolve any issue with his body. Doctors continue to learn even with new illnesses and diseases coming up. Everybody behaves differently and cannot be set, as airplanes do, to work in a particular manner. So, again, while all caution may be taken not to harm a patient, the patient’s body may display conflicting or unrecognizable symptoms, which could lead to misdiagnosis or misinterpretation, causing them to be harmed (Newman et al., 2009).
Would you get on an airplane if you had the same odds of the plane crashing as you do with having a medical error in the hospital?
No. As I have mentioned, the human body does not come with a manual that guides on how to fix any errors. Patients are often and should be provided with all information regarding their health status and the chances of the illness/disease completely clearing from their systems. At times, the genetic makeup of the patient causes the disease, and nothing can be done about that. At times, the lifestyle of the patient causes the illnesses, and it may be too late for a change in lifestyle to have any positive impact on the patient’s outcomes. But not so with airplanes. The different models and the aerophysics that are involved in creating a design and manufacturing a plane are basically the same for similar models. The aero industry has a governing body that is mandated to ensure that all planes are fly-worthy before taking off (FAA, 2019); the chances for failure, I would expect, should be low.
References
Bari, A., Khan, R. A., & Rathore, A. W. (2016). Medical errors; causes, consequences, emotional response and resulting behavioral change. Pakistan journal of medical sciences, 32(3), 523–528. doi:10.12669/pjms.323.9701
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). (2019). Safety: The Foundation of Everything We Do. https://www.faa.gov/about/safety_efficiency/
Newman-Toker, D. E., & Pronovost, P. J. (2009). Diagnostic errors—the next frontier for patient safety. Jama, 301(10), 1060-1062.
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Question 
A Response to the Professor
For this assignment, check my professor’s response to my fellow student’s post, “Priorities of National Quality Strategies.” I would like to respond to the professor’s question. Touch upon my fellow student’s concerns. Thank you.
From Mark,
“Priorities of National Quality Strategies”
After reading the U.S Department of Health and Human Services “National Quality Strategy” report, I would rank their six priorities as follows:
- Improving the affordability of care. – If individuals cannot afford care, they will not seek care. I have heard this for many years from family and friends who live in rural areas where income is substantially less than larger urban areas. Although, social economics comes into play in many areas. According to Gooch (2018), “64% of Americans avoid or delay treatment due to the cost of medical care” (p.1).
- Making care safer and reducing harm – I believe the #1 priority of healthcare is to keep patients safe. Leapfrog (2019) indicates, “As many as 440,000 people die every year from preventable errors in hospitals. It’s up to everyone to make sure that patient safety is the number one priority at every hospital across the United States” (para. 1).
A Response to the Professor
- Partnering with communities to support healthier lifestyles– I work with Centura Health here in Colorado and Kansas. They have worked hard to build community health and active lifestyles programs.https://www.centura.org/health-wellness/myhealthmatters. I believe the more physically and mentally active we can be, the healthier we can stay. Having a healthcare system support this endeavor is huge in knowing one has the support required. Dent (n.d.) indicates, “But by far the most important influence on one’s health status is lifestyle choices, which have a 51 percent influence on how healthily we live our lives” (para 6).
- Engaging consumers as partners in their care– I believe it is important for healthcare providers to engage the consumer as “partners” in healthcare. As with all products and/or services, is someone does not like it, they will move on to something better. An example of consumer-driven healthcare can be seen in the PPO structure. With PPO’s, if an individual does not like their current doctor, they can pick out another doctor if that doctor resides within their insurance plan. The insurance market has merged the ideas of consumer-driven health care with those of managed care and the dominant form of health insurance today, by far, is the PPO. It combines network principles from managed care with some of the cost-sharing principles from consumer-driven health care (Robinson and Ginsburg, 2009, p. 276).
- Promoting effective care coordination and communication between patients and providers and between providers on behalf of the patients.– I believe that communication (verbal or written) is key for any effective partnership or relationship to be successful. Good communication builds trust and credibility among individuals. The higher the trust, the more likely each partner (patient and provider team) will be able to take the time and energy necessary to successfully understand each other to facilitate the proper care when required.
- promoting effective care, with an emphasis on leading causes of morbidity and mortality.– I rated this last, not because I felt it was the least significant, but because I felt that of the other five priorities (steps?) were not accomplished first, the individual seeking care would not have a vested interest in the in-depth discussions and information required to follow through on discussion and plans of actions implemented based on their current health needs. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. You can tell someone to quit smoking, but unless they have personal buy-in, they have no vested interest in quitting. If the previous five priorities are implemented, then an individual will have a personal buy-in and be vested in the health and future.
From a biblical perspective, I believe it is our responsibility to care for our body, and in so doing, we can help lead others into caring for their own bodies as well. 1 Corinthian 6:19-20 (NIV) “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.”