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Running head: HEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGY 1

Healthcare technology

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HEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGY 2

Literature review

Medical errors

(Phelps, 2011) While medical errors can be prevented, the glaring increase of the

medication errors indicates that little has been done to correct the situation and thus avoid the

medical error. In his view, he indicates that there is a dire need for technology in a bid to correct

medical errors as a way of overcoming the ever-rising number of medication errors. Technology,

in his view, is one of the best ways of reducing medical errors on the account that he noted that

medication errors that are non-surgical were more common the healthcare institutions. Statistics

that he relied on while writing his book indicated that non-surgical medical errors had increased

to the tune of about that the errors that were committed that had higher chances of resulting to

death ranged from 44,000 to 98000 in 1999. This indicates that the challenge of medication

errors ought to be taken seriously by bringing about technological policies that would reduce the

number and guarantee patients of their safety while in a healthcare institution.

(Phelps, 2011) Further noted that about 70% of the medical errors could be prevented.

However, serious measures have not been put in place to the extent that non-surgical errors have

increased accounting for about 19% of the errors that are annually recorded in healthcare

institutions. The report from which the statistics that he relied on were derived from women’s

hospital and MGH. Among the most shocking and unfortunate reports that were compiled by

AHRQ, it was found that the most notable impacts of medical errors were that they prolonged

the period in which a patient was admitted to about 4-6 days. Logically, the prolonging of the

admission increases medical cost. In the report by AHRQ, it was indicated that patients were

made to pay $4685 more of what they could have paid to healthcare institutions as a result of a

medication error.

HEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGY 3

In an assessment of the most serious medical errors, (Phelps, 2011) opined that they are

the errors that were attributed to IV administration of medication. While analyzing the medical

errors that are more serious, Phelps used the data that were obtained from MedMax, a database

that is used for recording the medical errors that have been committed in healthcare institutions.

The MedMax data further indicated that the medical errors that were more likely to cause deaths

were the parenteral medications. In comparison to other medication errors, the parenteral

medication was found to be three times more likely to lead to death. An account that the statistics

that he relied on to indicate that there was a dire need to correct medical errors to guarantee

patients of safety, healthcare that will at the end of the day provide a platform that would

guarantee patients quality health care, which is a policy on the principle of all healthcare

institutions whether public or private. On his part, (Phelps, 2011) proposed the use of infusion

pumps as the solution to the issue of medication errors, which were found to be the challenge

that was more likely to lead to death.

Impacts of medication errors

(National Academies Press, 2000), in their research on the impacts of medical errors

found that approximately 98000 people die in any given year as a result of medical errors. The

institution compared the number of people who die as a result of motor vehicle accidents, AIDS

or breast cancer, which are the three leading causes of death thereby, receiving overwhelming

public attention. In their comparison, they found out that medical errors lead to more deaths than

AIDS, road accidents and breast cancer. Additionally, the institution noted that human tragedy,

which leads to medical errors is the leading widespread financial problems. The book indicates

that the errors that are attributed to human negligence have been noted to lead to serious issues in

the context of medical errors and therefore, policies to have technology being used in medical

HEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGY 4

institutions should be formulated and implemented in a bid to have safe, quality and reliable

healthcare sector.

Possible solutions to medication errors

(Philips, 2017) Opined that one of the major leading causes to medical errors is the issue

of poor labelling of drugs. In this case, clinicians or pharmacists can easily make mistakes by

administering wrong drugs to patients out of poor labeling. As result (Phillips, 2017) proposed a

proper labelling of drugs and chemicals to ensure that all drugs are used for their right purpose

and thus avoid medication errors. (Philip, 2017) further postulated that some medication error

occur at diagnostic stage of treatment out of using wrong chemicals for diagnosis. Therefore,

healthcare institutions should come up with a streamlined ways of labelling all drugs and

chemicals.

(Aronson, 2009) on the other hand, opined that some of the medical errors occur as a

result of poor training of clinicians thereby, resulting to the situation whereby, the clinicians are

not trained in line with the professional requirements. Logically, in the event that the clinicians

are not adequately prepared, the chances of making mistakes in their career are so high. In his

article, Aronson suggested that clinicians should be given the right education to facilitate

working in line with the professional requirements to the extent that they would reduce the

medical errors. Medication errors being one of the major issues that majorly affect the quality of

healthcare being offered, therefore, Aronson’s opinion should be considered as a possible to

solution medication errors.

On the account that human beings and paperwork have a greater tendency of leading to

medical errors. (Cohen, 2007) Opined that the probable way and reducing medical errors that are

HEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGY 5

attributed to human beings was to institute policies that would make mandatory for the medical

institutions to do away with the paperwork, which is largely done by man and instead replace

them with technology. In this case, it was opined that human beings are prone to committing

errors that may either be deliberate or through an accident. Accidents may be as a result of

tiredness or poor vision that may lead into committing medical issues. (Cohen, 2007), thus

suggested that the medical errors should be prevented by replacing paperwork with technology.

While proving the account why it was so important to have technology in terms other than

paperwork, Cohen further noted that technology is more efficient, convenient and faster than

human beings, therefore should be put in place to ensure safe and quality healthcare to all.

(Hatfield, 2012), in his book that was written with the aim of analyzing the need to have

the CPOE system as the solution commission of medical errors defined it as the process of

medical electronic entry of instructions of the medical practitioner's institutions in the course of

treatment of patients under the care of the practitioner. He further described it as a system that

facilitates that the orders that are entered into the system are further communicated through a

network of a computer to the medical staff that is affiliated with various medical departments

such as lab, radiology or the pharmacy in a bid to fulfill the order. Hatfield father indicates that

CPOE is a system that has been advocated in the USA since 2000 on account that it is efficient

and devoid of medical errors.

In the course of emphasizing in need to replace paperwork and human work in relation to

health care institutions, (Lambert, 2014) researched the need to have a technological system in

charge of dispensing drugs. The logic behind the pharmacy dispensing machine according to

Lambert is the account that the machine is free from errors in that there are minimal and most

likely no instances of an overdose or being given the wrong drugs, which is a common mistake

HEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGY 6

that is affiliated to the man leading to life-threatening situations. The pharmacy dispensing

machines are instituted to ensure that medical errors are reduced to the minimum. Though the

machines are said to require additional human resource with specialized training for coding,

(Lambert, 2014) indicates that it is very effective in correcting a medical error and the cost of

paying a specialized coding expert is far much cheaper than spending extra costs for medical

treatment.

Technology, therefore, evaluated together with proper education and proper labeling was

considered by (Cohen, 2007) as the best solution to the medication errors challenge that appears

to be a stumbling block to the quest of providing quality healthcare. In this case, (Cohen, 2007),

argued that in spite of proper labeling of drugs and chemicals and offering proper education to

clinicians, the two solutions assign much responsibility to human beings. Considering that some

of the medication errors are deliberate while other are unintended, proper training and labeling of

chemicals may not be relied on as the sole solution. On the other hand, technology, through

computerized systems, provides a platform that has the minimum or no errors. Therefore,

technology is more effective as a possible solution to the issue of medication errors compared to

proper training and proper labeling.

Advantages and disadvantages of technology as a solution to medication errors

(Lambert, 2014) In his book argued that technology is the best method to solve the issue

of medical errors. In his argument, he indicated that technology has several advantages among

them is the efficiency. In this case, technology brings in a platform that is efficient and time-

saving in its operations. Secondly, he opined that, unlike the human, technology is more

accurate, with minimum or zero chances of making errors. Third, Lambert indicated that

technology economical on account that it requires the little human resource, therefore, reducing

HEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGY 7

the cost of hiring. However, he noted that despite all the possible advantages, technology

expensive based on an initial cost of installation compared to human resource. Secondly, in his

book, he indicated that technology requires an input of highly trained personnel, which is also

expensive.

References

Aronson, J. K. (2009). Medication errors: EMERGing solutions. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology,

589–591.

Cohen, M. R. (2007). Medication Errors. Washington DC: American Pharmacist Associa.

HEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGY 8

Hatfield, M. D. (2012). The Impact of Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE) on Medication Order

Processing and Workflow Efficiency by Pharmacists: A Time and Motion Study. Houston:

University of Houston.

Lambert, A. A. (2014). Advanced Pharmacy Practice. London: Cengage Learning.

Phelps, P. K. (2011). Smart Infusion Pumps: Implementation, Management, and Drug Libraries.

Maryland: ASHP.

Phillips, N. (2017, July 9). Safe Labelling Helps in Preventing Medical Errors. Retrieved from OR TODAY:

http://ortoday.com/safe-labeling-helps-prevent-or-medication-errors/

Press, N. A. (2000). To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System, Volume 627 . Washington DC:

National Academies Press.

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