By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    healthy hobbies
    The Importance of Hobbies for Our Health
    September 15, 2024
    Whiplash
    Understanding Whiplash: A Guide For Healthcare Practitioners
    January 22, 2025
    research chemicals and health care
    Chemical Research Drive Medical Breakthroughs
    June 14, 2023
    Latest News
    7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
    August 20, 2025
    Hospital Pest Control and the Fight Against Superbugs
    August 20, 2025
    Hygiene Beyond The Clinic: Attention To Overlooked Non-Clinical Spaces
    August 13, 2025
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    August 3, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Hospitals and Providers Using NHIN (Nationwide Health Information Network)
    March 11, 2012
    Image
    Physicians With High Productivity And Satisfaction Scores Employ Strong Patient-Centered Communication Skills
    May 7, 2013
    My Solution to the Healthcare Crisis
    March 31, 2012
    Latest News
    How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
    August 22, 2025
    How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
    August 22, 2025
    How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
    August 22, 2025
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Medical Mistakes: To Err Is Human – Yes and No?
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Business > Hospital Administration > Medical Mistakes: To Err Is Human – Yes and No?
eHealthHospital AdministrationMedical RecordsPublic Health

Medical Mistakes: To Err Is Human – Yes and No?

Bill Crounse
Bill Crounse
Share
6 Min Read
SHARE

I must admit that I’ve been feeling a bit depressed about the human condition. A passenger jet gets blasted out of the sky (mistake or not) by hostile forces. There are rising tensions in the Ukraine and a ground war is now underway in Gaza. So many lives are lost to violence around the world, and likely so many more that we never even hear about. Besides all that, there’s another war going on and right now we are losing. It is responsible for lost lives and human carnage measured in the thousands every day. It too is a conflict we don’t hear much about.

I must admit that I’ve been feeling a bit depressed about the human condition. A passenger jet gets blasted out of the sky (mistake or not) by hostile forces. There are rising tensions in the Ukraine and a ground war is now underway in Gaza. So many lives are lost to violence around the world, and likely so many more that we never even hear about. Besides all that, there’s another war going on and right now we are losing. It is responsible for lost lives and human carnage measured in the thousands every day. It too is a conflict we don’t hear much about. It is insidious and something that puts every one of us at risk every time we or a loved one enters a hospital or clinic. I’m talking about medical mistakes.

imageAccording to information shared at a recent Senate hearing, preventable medical errors are the number three killer in America. Only cancer and heart disease take more lives. It is estimated that medical mistakes kill 1000 Americans every day and harm another 10,000 people a day due to complications resulting from non-fatal medical errors. How can that be, you say? Didn’t we play this tape back in 1999 when the Institute of Medicine published its now famous To Err is Human report? Back then, people were shocked to learn that perhaps100,000 lives were being lost annually due to medical errors in the American health system. Now, some 15 years later we are told that the number of deaths is perhaps four times that amount! What about the hundreds of billions of dollars that have been invested in electronic medical records and hospital information systems? Wasn’t information technology supposed to improve patient safety?

Well, as many have pointed out, despite the vast sums expended on electronic records, we really shouldn’t be too surprised that medical mistakes still happen. The EMR is really little more than the digitization of our old paper record systems. And while some attempt has been made to reduce medical errors with e-prescribing, computerized physician order entry, clinical care guidelines, check lists, adverse alerts, and the like; it seems to err is still human. Did we really think our baby steps to digitize the paper record in electronic systems would by itself significantly reduce the proliferation of medical errors?

More Read

telemedicine telehealth
Reimbursement and Convenience Fuel Virtual Healthcare Trend
How do we achieve coordinated health care?
Interview by ePatient Michael Weiss of ePatient Vanessa Carter [VIDEO]
A Humbling Experience
The Birth of an *e*-Patient

No question there is lots of room for improvement in electronic medical record solutions and hospital information systems. Most of what we are using in our hospitals today are refinements of computer software and systems developed in the 70’s and 80’s. There’s still not a whole lot of smart in healthcare IT, at least not yet. Even worse, if clinical end users are becoming too reliant on IT to catch and correct errors before they happen, or if we have so overwhelmed clinicians with data entry and data output that they can’t see the forest for the trees, then perhaps we can expect even more medical mistakes in the future than we are seeing today.

imageThe airline industry has been grappling with some of these very same issues. Unlike hospital IT, some would say that the information technology in airplanes has become too smart. Airplanes are fully capable of flying themselves with very little intervention from the pilots. This is causing concern in the industry that pilots are literally losing their flying skills, that they are becoming too reliant on technology—a concern perhaps validated by the crash of Asiana flight 214 during its botched landing in San Francisco.

What is drawn to our attention here is the delicate balance we must maintain between human and machine control. The machine is most certainly capable these days of holding and processing more information than the human brain can handle. On the other hand, if the machine only confuses the human brain or the human becomes too complacent in trusting the machine to always perform with perfection, then errors will still happen, in abundance, in our hospitals and clinics.

To err isn’t limited to humans. Sometimes, machines err too. Sometime both humans and machines together are to blame. But ultimately, at least for the time being, it is only the human that can improve the machines and make them less likely to contribute to the mistakes made by humans. If you are a developer, engineer, computer scientist, or concerned clinical end user, please rise up to that challenge!

Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

travel nurse in north carolina
Balancing Speed and Scope: Choosing the Nursing Degree That Fits Your Goals
Nursing
September 1, 2025
intimacy
How to Keep Intimacy Comfortable as You Age
Relationship and Lifestyle Senior Care
September 1, 2025
engineer fitting prosthetic arm
How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
Health care
August 20, 2025
a woman explaining the document
How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
Public Health
August 20, 2025

You Might also Like

RSNA 2013: Mobile Connect—Image Viewers and Patient Access for Radiology

November 22, 2013
Improving The Hospital Experience For Sexual Assault Survivors
Hospital Administration

Improving The Hospital Experience For Sexual Assault Survivors

March 16, 2018
pharmaphorum social media
BusinessPolicy & LawSocial Media

Is Social Media Worth the Risk for Pharma?

March 2, 2015
healthcare hashtags
BusinesseHealthSocial Media

Beyond the Buzz: A Guide to Analyzing Healthcare Hashtags

October 3, 2014
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?