By now, you’ve probably heard about the Johns Hopkins study, published in BMJ, that called medical errors the third leading cause of death in the U.S. That works out to slightly more than 250,000 unnecessary deaths annually, or about 9.5 percent of all fatalities in the country.
It’s a staggering figure, far above the range of 44,000 to 98,000 preventable deaths in hospitals alone that the Institute of Medicine estimated in the seminal 1999 work, “To Err Is Human.” However, it’s not the first time someone has called medical error the No. 3 cause of death in the U.S. John T. James, founder of a group called Patient Safety America, did that in a 2013 report in the Journal of Patient Safety.
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
What’s different this time? Has anything changed for the better since 1999?
Frank Federico, a vice president at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement — the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based organization founded by Dr. Donald M. Berwick — has plenty of thoughts on this study and those questions. He shares them in this podcast.
A Personalized Approach to Medication Nonadherence
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
0:45 How estimates have changed since 1999
2:20 Complacency
3:00 John James’ study
5:00 How to assure evidence-based care
6:30 Standardization of and deviation from guidelines
7:50 The role of technology and proper implementation
9:30 Culture change before technology change
10:15 “Overconfidence” in technology
11:30 Reasons for optimism
13:35 Overcoming a culture of secrecy
15:00 “Pockets of excellence”
16:15 What patients can do
17:30 Setting realistic goals
Photo: Flickr user Nick Webb
