Tennessee residents may not be surprised to hear that approximately 85,000 medical malpractice cases are filed across the nation each year. It has been estimated that there are 1 million medical injuries on an annual basis as well. Because each such injury can potentially become a malpractice case, there are ways that health care facilities can reduce their incidence. Here are a couple ways:
- Implement Quality Control Procedures. For example, patients who underwent an elective procedure should discuss their experience afterwards with a neutral party. This could be useful if the patient's condition worsens over time. Additionally, the responses could indicate if there is substandard care or if the problem lies with a staff member or a procedure.
An Oversight Department. This may be an incredibly useful tool to reduce the number of needless medication errors that occur. These medication errors often occur as a result of time shortages or doctors and nurses that have been overworked. The oversight department may take charge of monitoring the number of shifts the hospital staff may work. If the department can reduce the number of medication errors that occur, the number of medical malpractice lawsuits should also be reduced.
Even if procedures are in place to reduce the number of unnecessary injuries, a patient can still be given the wrong dose of medication or be injured while in surgery. If it can be proven that another competent doctor would not have made the mistake that resulted in harm, the injured patient may want to discuss with an attorney the advisability of filing a medical negligence lawsuit against the doctor and the hospital, seeking compensation for the damages that have been sustained.