List of Articles
- Medical Liability: Tort Reform
The greatest ongoing challenge for health care reform in the United States is to provide better health care for less money. Both aspirations are possible, but only if the nation is willing to overhaul the unreliable system of medical justice. Containing costs requires changing the rules for all participants. A range of malpractice reform proposals have been suggested as part of the national debate, and it is useful to examine them and identify the advantages of each. All of these reforms have significant merit, but special health courts are by far the most important in reducing defensive medicine. Perhaps the most important reason for adopting administrative compensation models for adverse medical outcomes is the effect on patient safety and quality of care. Adverse outcomes, preventable or otherwise, are an uncomfortable reality of medical care. Disclosure and discussion of adverse events in health care is desired by patients and championed by safety experts and policy makers. - Medical Liability: Risk Management
Risk management in the healthcare profession refers to strategies designed to enhance patient safety, decrease the risk of malpractice claims, and minimize loss. The goal of this program is to improve patient safety, decrease patient injury, and decrease liability losses through an educational program that identifies and initiates specific risk-reduction clinical practices and creates a comprehensive culture of safety. This effective risk management program includes both proactive and reactive components. The proactive component consists of strategies to prevent adverse occurrences, and the reactive component includes strategies for responding to such occurrences (i.e. minimizing loss). Given that obstetrics is the number one cause of admission to hospitals and that the professional liability system, as it now exists, threatens both the ability of obstetric providers to continue care and women to access care, it is imperative to take a leading role in patient safety and work towards optimizing outcome for our patients. One of the major results of health reform is the development of health-insurance exchanges, which will expand quality measurement. Enhancing safety of women in the hospitals and minimizing errors is not only an ethical and moral obligation, but also an essential component of liability reform. - Medical Liability: Current Status and Patient Safety
Accusations of negligence and the harm they do can be greatly reduced by a no-fault compensation, more realistic expectations, and an appropriate continuing education system for health professionals. In recent years, a science of patient safety has developed. Harm to patients is not inevitable and can be avoided. To achieve this, clinicians and institutions must learn from past errors, and learn how to prevent future errors. We need to adapt our ways of working to make safe health care a robust and achievable goal. Clinicians, managers, healthcare organizations, governments (worldwide) and consumers must become familiar with patient safety concepts and principles. Though medical curricula are continually changing to accommodate the latest discoveries and new knowledge, patient safety knowledge is different from other because it applies to all areas of practice. It is therefore fitting that the Women's Health and Education Center (WHEC) with its partners in health, has developed this curriculum which will enable and encourage medical schools and healthcare facilities to include patient safety in their courses. Reducing harm caused by health care is a global priority. These skills are fundamental to patient safety. - Health Literacy, e-Health and Sustainable Development
Literacy is a human right and can be considered a tool of personal empowerment: a means for social and human development. Health literacy and e-Health are valuable tools in empowering women and communities to improve their health status and achieve sustainable development by reaching the indicators of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In today's world, the local and global are inextricably linked. Action on one cannot ignore the influence of or impact on the other. e-Health is a global phenomenon. The Women's Health and Education Center's (WHEC's) strategy on e-Health focuses on strengthening health systems in countries; fostering public-private partnerships in information and communication technologies (ICT) research and development for health; supporting capacity building for e-Health application worldwide; and the development and use of norms and standards. Long-term government commitment, based on a strategic plan, is a prerequisite for the successful implementation of e-Health activities. Health is both a fundamental human right and a sound social investment.
Women's Health & Education Center
Dedicated to Women's and Children's Well-being and Health Care Worldwide
www.womenshealthsection.com
Dedicated to Women's and Children's Well-being and Health Care Worldwide
www.womenshealthsection.com