- Medical errors have deleterious effects on patient health quality and safety. Additionally, it negatively implicated health professionals and care organizations.
- The prevention measures/strategies focus on the cause and risk/contributing factors.
- The best way to prevent medical errors is to enhance communication and interprofessional collaboration (Rodziewicz et al., 2022). Most errors arise from poor documentation and communication among professional and unsupportive teams. Care organizations can foster interdisciplinary collaboration and effective communication by enforcing policies on patient safety, interdisciplinary collaboration, and implementing the best communication and informatics technology.
- The second most effective strategy is the application of evidence-based practice to improve healthcare and fight medical errors. Li et al. (2019) define evidence-based practice as an approach to applying the best clinical evidence and experience to make clinical decisions and implement interventions to improve health, ensure patient safety and reduce errors. Research shows that some medical errors arise from caregiver illiteracy and lack of research evidence or experience to guide their decisions and choice of intervention. Health organizations should enforce evidence-based practice through organizations/local policies and create a culture of EBP by supporting scientific inquiry, continuous learning, and advancement in practice (Li et al., 2019).
- Health organizations can promote transparency and accountability by formulating and implementing work ethics and zero error policies (Vian, 2020). Ethical values and principles guide health professionals to make the right and most appropriate decisions and to take responsibility for their actions. By enforcing ethics and zero error policies, professionals will strive to provide the best care, make the right decisions and be accountable for their actions (Vian, 2020).
- Updating the latest medical technology to verify orders and patient identity. Uzun & Bilgin (2016) recommend the barcode system and patient identification tags for identification and verification purposes. With the introduction of artificial intelligence healthcare and sophisticated health informatics, caregivers can prevent errors that arise from documentation and identification problems.
