In the first part of this post, we sketched the origins of the movement to develop checklists to help prevent medical errors. As we noted, two of the key figures were Atul Gawande and Peter Pronovost. More than a decade ago, Pronovost proposed a protocol for...
Anytime a document bears the word "manifesto" in its title, you know its author or authors had or have ambitious aims. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels famously issued their "Communist Manifesto" in 1848. Their aims were practically apocalyptic: the overthrow of...
Transplant operations are a marvel of medical science. Many people have heard of cases where someone donates a kidney to a friend or loved one. Indeed, in New Mexico and across the nation, kidney donation stands as a recognized symbol of self-giving service. Other...
How can health care providers do a better job at preventing medication errors? As health professionals in New Mexico and across the nation grapple with this question, good ideas from other countries are certainly welcome. And so, in this post, we will discuss a new...
Let's continue with a theme we've been exploring regularly in recent posts: going to the hospital should not make people sicker, but often does. As we noted earlier this week, sometimes this is due to hospital-acquired infections. In this post, we will take note of a...
In the first part of this post, we began discussing the importance of hospital checklists as a method to help prevent medical malpractice. We noted, for example, that research supports the contention that checklists can be effective for this purpose – as long as...
Hospital checklists are more than an idea whose time has come. Research is now beginning to show that such checklists can be effective at preventing errors in the delivery of medical services. As we will discuss in this two-part post, however, in order for checklists...
Doctors often warn patients that they should keep an eye on their health, to stay up-to-date on checkups because catching problems early could make the difference between a treatable and a terminal diagnosis. It certainly is a great piece of advice to follow, but what...
In recent years, concerns about school bullying have become very prominent in American life. Traditional forms of bullying remain a pressing concern. And there are now also many concerns about cyberbulling. But it is not only in schools that bullying can have a...
Communication is crucial in the delivery of medical care. Modern medicine has become highly fragmented, carved up in all sorts of silos and specialized niches. With so many medical professionals involved, it is imperative that they keep in touch with each other in...
