Researchers at the Lucian Leape Institute, National Patient Safety Foundation established that medical institutes concentrate on basic science and clinical knowledge, which are no longer required.
Lucian L. Leape, Chairperson of the Institute said, “Despite concerted efforts by many conscientious health care organizations and health professionals to improve and implement safer practices, health care remains fundamentally unsafe.”
“The result is that patient safety still remains one of the nation’s most solvable public health challenges,” added Leape.
Reason behind the healthcare problem
The report presented by the institute is a collaborative effort of 10 years of its study titled ‘To Err Is Human’, and revealed that nearly 98,000 Americans die needlessly from medical faults which could have been averted.
As the report states, the cause of slow medical progress in schools can be attributed to semi-skilled physicians who, many a time, follow unsafe procedures.
The implementation of these training activities from the very first day of medical school till the last is essential.
According to lead researcher, Dennis S. O’Leary, MD, President Emeritus, The Joint Commission, “The medical education system is producing square pegs for the delivery system’s round holes.”
“Educational strategies need to be redesigned to emphasize development of the skills, attitudes, and behaviors that are foundational to the provision of safe care,” added O’Leary.
Recommendations of the report
The latest report named ‘Unmet Needs: Teaching Physicians to Provide Safe Patient Care’ was centered on a roundtable meet of experts called together by the Institute.
The meet’s panelists were renowned personalities from the fields of medical education, patient safety, healthcare, and healthcare improvement with personal experience in the profession.
The 12 recommendations moved around certain basic ideas one of which was, “Medical schools and teaching hospitals need to create learning cultures that emphasize patient safety, model professionalism, encourage transparency, and enhance collaborative behavior. They should have zero tolerance policies for egregious disrespectful or abusive behavior.”
Secondly, “Medical schools should teach patient safety as a basic science and ensure that students develop interpersonal and communication skills through experiences working in teams with nursing, pharmacy, and other professional students.”
Diane C. Pinakiewicz, MBA, President, Lucian Leape Institute said, “We recognize that this is just the beginning of a major collaborative effort to see the report’s recommendations through to their full implementation.”
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