Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

17 PATIENT EXPERIENCE What Patients Really Want Physicians to Do After a Medical Error By Mackenzie Bean A fter a medical error leads to a serious injury, patients and family members want physicians to better communi- cate the hospital's efforts to prevent a similar error from occurring again, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. For the study, researchers interviewed 27 patients, three family members and 10 staff members from three hospitals with commu- nication-and-resolution programs in place to address medical errors. Every patient inter- viewed either accepted a malpractice settlement or were injured too long ago to file suit. Here are six study findings. 1. Twenty-seven of 30 patients and family members received compensation. 2. Eighteen patients continued to seek care at the hospital where the mistake took place. 3. Patient satisfaction was highest after medical errors when hospital communication was friendly and included compensation. 4. Patients and family members demonstrated a strong desire to be heard after a medical error took place and expected the physician involved with the case to listen to their feelings about the situation. 5. They also wanted to know how the hospital would prevent errors in the future, but only six of 30 family members and patients received this information. 6. Thirty-five of 40 respondents thought it was helpful to have plaintiffs' lawyers join conversa- tions about the errors. "When things go wrong in the hospital, doctors tend to be focused on doing what they do best: conveying medical information and treating the patient," senior study author Michelle Mello, PhD, a law professor at Stanford (Calif.) University, told Reuters. "They may not realize that what many patients and families need is for them to stop talking and listen attentively to what families have to say about how the adverse event affected them, without redirecting the conversation to clinical issues." n Survey Finds Patients Want More Time With Physicians By Emily Rappleye W hile 9 in 10 patients believe the patient-physician relationship is the most essential component of high-quality healthcare, just 1 in 10 patients feel they get enough face time with their physi- cians, according to a survey commissioned by The Physicians Foundation. The survey, conducted by Regina Corso Consulting, polled nearly 1,750 American adults ages 27 to 75 in June 2017. Participants had at least two visits with the same physician in the past year. The survey indicated 95 percent of patients are overall extremely satisfied with their primary care physicians, but the majority (65 percent) said time is always or often short during visits. Just over half of patients (53 percent) believed physicians were at capacity in terms of workload. The results also indicated patients want their physicians to take a greater role in their care and in healthcare reform in general. Most patients (87 percent) said they felt physicians should have the most influence over their care, but 69 percent said payers actually had the most influence. Meanwhile, 90 percent of patients wanted to see physicians at the fore- front of discussions on healthcare quality, cost and access. n Survey: 1 in 5 Americans Say They've Experienced a Medical Error By Mackenzie Bean M ore than 20 percent of Americans say they have experienced a medical error, according to a survey released in October. The independent research organization NORC at the University of Chica- go conducted the survey in partnership with the IHI/NPSF Lucian Leape Institute and with funding from Medtronic. For the survey, NORC polled a nationally representative sample of 2,536 adults between May 12 and June 26 about their experience with medical errors. Here are five survey findings. 1. Twenty-one percent of respondents reported personally experiencing a medical error and 31 percent reported involvement in the care of some- one who experienced a medical error. 2. The most common types of medical errors involved diagnoses. Fifty-nine percent of respondents who either experienced medical errors personally or as caregivers said the error involved a medical issue that went undiag- nosed, was diagnosed incorrectly or received a delayed diagnosis. 3. When given a list of 23 factors that could have contributed to a medical error, respondents most commonly cited "healthcare providers who do not pay attention to detail" as the main reason for the error. 4. Forty-five percent of respondents who experienced a medical error notified medical personnel, and 32 percent of respondents reported learning of the error from a provider or facility staff. 5. Thirty-nine percent of respondents said patient safety has stayed the same over the last five years, 29 percent said it's improved and 12 per- cent said it has gotten worse. n

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