Getting patients involved in patient safety: Partnering With Patients To Reduce Medical Errors. Edited by Patrice L. Spath, RHIT. Publisher: AHA Press; 198 pages; $75 ($62 for ASHRM members) www.aha.org (Health Forum, Online Store)
✍ Scribed by Joe Pixler
- Publisher
- Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
- Year
- 2004
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 449 KB
- Volume
- 24
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1074-4797
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
www.aha.org (Health Forum, Online Store) "I think everyone should approach this volume with the notion that we will all be patients sooner or later," advises David B. Nash, MD, in his foreword to Partnering With Patients To Reduce Medical Errors. In this book, editor Patrice L. Spath brings together various positive perspectives on engaging patients in their own care. The contributors are a mix of JDs, MDs, RNs, health care consultants and one patient safety officer (PSO). The book bolsters the growing risk management view that patients (and their families) can be key allies in improving patient safety and reducing loss.
Spath opens Partnering With Patients with a tone-setting chapter titled "Safety from the Patient's Point of View." She acknowledges the challenge of partnering with patients because of an obvious reason: health care can be highly technical, and a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. Moreover, not all patients will commit to an active partnership. On the other side of the equation, provider acceptance of a partnership with patients requires a daunting social change in the patient-practitioner relationship, from paternalistic to collaborative.
However, "[p]atients can speak from their own experiences with health services," Spath points out, and that qualifies them as experts to varying degrees who "can be valuable from the perspective of customer satisfaction."
There remains a leap from this point to the achievement of a higher level of patient safety. Spath makes the case here, drawing from her 20 years of experience as a health informational management professional. She has authored/edited several books and participated in 300 educational programs on patient safety improvement techniques (including ASHRM's March 24 audio conference titled "Strategies for Bringing Patients into the Patient Safety Process").
The book's seven chapters cover an interesting array of views. A surgeon frankly tells how the traditional patient-practitioner has failed. A hospital director of clinical and regulatory review points out the basic value of appreciating the patient's perspective and helping the patient learn how to stay safe. A consultant looks at obstacles on both sides of the partnership, and shares strategies for surmounting them. Two health lawyers suggest that many liability fears of open dialogue are overstated. A health care system CEO tells how his facilities gain the trust and confidence of customers. Two hospital administrators (one a PSO) share their initiatives in creating a supportive culture and providing educational opportunities for all stakeholders.
Spath supplements the prose with a number of tools, including tip cards, an organizational safety triangle diagram, safety assessment charts and instructive case studies. A 13-page resources list provides some good leads.
Partnering With Patients To Reduce Medical Errors makes a useful addition to the literature supporting the role of patients as vital contributors to better outcomes clearly a win-win situation for all involved. As the foreword states, that means everyone.