The reliability of healthcare organizations is measured by the capacity to maintain a high quality of care over the years. Therefore, as much as several attributes can contribute to a safe and high-reliability culture, the most vital is preoccupation with errors. Every fault or near miss is an opportunity to learn and make amends. Therefore, healthcare organizations should be characterized by continuous education for quality enhancement.
The main reason for selecting the preoccupation with error attribute is due to its ability to promote the relentless pursuit of perfection and standardization of practice. According to Gaw et al. (2018), high-reliability organizations are always looking for what might go wrong to mitigate the effects. Moreover, errors during intake, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment have dire consequences and may be fatal. For instance, there are 254000 deaths in the United States every year resulting from human error (Guttman et al., 2019). The authors add that such errors are the third leading cause of mortality. The statistics show that it is time for healthcare providers to consider moving beyond the current safety and quality approaches and learn from human mistakes, regardless of how small.
As a leader, the first step for reinforcing the attribute is to set up high standards, guidelines and policies for practice. The aim is to ensure that medical professionals have a reference point for every step they take in the health continuum. The second step is to ensure that there is proper record keeping of every step from the time of intake to the discharge of patients. The rationale is to ensure there is that in case of an error, it is easy to identify. Finally, continuous research and professional collaboration are integrated I the strategy to have evidence-based solutions for mistakes and implement positive change. To reinforce the steps, it is vital to ensure that the errors are solved immediately, focusing more on learning instead of criticizing the person who made a mistake. The organizational environment should be enabled to ensure that people feel safe to share their errors and expect assistance from colleagues.
References
Gaw, M., Rosinia, F., & Diller, T. (2018). Quality and the health system: Becoming a high reliability organization. Anesthesiology Clinics, 36(2), 217-226. Web.
Guttman, O., Keebler, J. R., Lazzara, E. H., Daniel, W., & Reed, G. (2019). Rethinking high reliability in healthcare: The role of error management theory towards advancing high reliability organizing. Journal of Patient Safety and Risk Management, 24(3), 127-133. Web.
The cost of healthcare is continually increasing, and the cause is often attributed to several causes, including politics and insurance. However, the ineffectiveness and inefficiency are increasing due to the complexity of science in the medical field (Gawande, 2012). When healthcare started, autonomy was the most valuable attribute. Not anymore, since there are now at least four thousand medical procedures, 6000 prescription drugs, and other solutions that the medics are trying to deploy town by town and to each patient. However, it is becoming more apparent that doctors cannot know everything. The development of specialists handling a single patient does more harm than good.
Therefore, the solution is to adopt systems of healthcare in which all the components of healthcare are combined as a whole. The implication is that it is possible to recognize mistakes and successes and errors instead of data (Gawande, 2012). Once the failures are identified in a system, they look for solutions to improve health. They can use technology and other devices to make it possible to get a working solution (Gawande, 2012). It is vital to ensure that the medics have a checklist for the entire process to understand the process and reduce complications. The last solution is the capacity to implement the process, which is hard given that people resist change that critiques their practices.
Implementing the system requires a leader to first talk to the healthcare team in an organization to explain its relevance and agree that there is a valid reason for the change. Next, I will prepare a checklist for all the health procedures a multi-professional team should adhere to when managing a patient. It is vital that teamwork in cooperation and know each other by name to make communication and sharing of information easier. The process will ensure that people work as a system rather than as individual specialists.
Reference
Gawande, A. (2012). How do we heal medicine? [Video]. YouTube. Web.