When it comes to medication history in any given patient, it isn’t just what happens in the present that is important and consequential. The discrepancies in the patient’s medication history can have far-reaching effects and can potentially cause a myriad of issues later on. A high percentage of patients who are admitted to the emergency room of the hospital have mistakes on their list of medications. Of that percentage, a large percentage cause the patients physical harm.
There are often consequences that are widespread if the medication history is incorrect and that mistake is allowed to be repeated in the hospital upon admission to the ER. This is an all-too-common occurrence in hospitals around the country, including in Pennsylvania. In many cases, the information that is gathered contains errors such as information that is missing, inconsistent, and/or incomplete on the patient. Those information gaps mean that the hospital staff needs to hunt down the information and possibly to confirm the validity of the information that they do have. There is also a greater margin for error if information is entered into the hospital’s system manually.
Inaccurate information can cause inferior patient care
If the hospital does not have accurate information or is missing some pertinent information, one of the consequences is that the quality of the patient’s care will suffer. Another issue is that different information often contains varying terminology. This often causes issues when the information is imported and must be resolved manually. That can also be time-consuming.
In such a situation, there is a high chance of incorrect information being perpetuated and that leads to the potential for other patient issues. One way to really improve is to automate as much as possible and then a much smaller percentage will have to be done manually. Less human error means better patient care.
Counsel from a knowledgeable medical malpractice lawyer
The solid advice of an experienced Pennsylvania lawyer who understands how to deal with medication errors from the legal perspective may be tremendously helpful to your case if you have had a similar struggle. Medication errors can be detrimental and extremely dangerous. A lawyer who understands the short- and long-term consequences of such errors can support you and stay by your side throughout the entire legal process.