medical error
Harmful treatment blunder
Medical error is a preventable mistake in healthcare that causes or could cause patient harm.
It includes misdiagnoses, surgical mistakes, wrong medications, and failures of communication.
Medical errors range from minor oversights to fatal blunders: The hospital admitted the death resulted from medical error.
The term often appears in discussions of patient safety and malpractice litigation.
Harmful professional negligence
- lawsuitCivil court proceeding
- litigationLegal dispute process
- liabilityLegal or financial obligation
- negligenceFailure to exercise care
damages · settlement · plaintiff · defendant · deposition · verdict · expert testimony · standard of care
Factor that adds difficulty
- disabilityImpairment affecting life activities
- deathCessation of life
- infectionPathogen invasion causing illness
- hemorrhageProfuse discharge of blood
sepsis · organ damage · allergic reaction · overdose · underdose · drug interaction · permanent injury · psychological trauma
Incorrect identification of ailment
- delayed diagnosisMedical conclusion reached late
- communication breakdownFailure to convey meaning
- equipment failureMachinery breakdown
- fallDescend under gravity
Narrowly averted incident
- human factorsStudy of user-system interaction
- fatigueWeariness from prolonged exertion
- understaffingInsufficient workforce levels
- poor communicationIneffective exchange of information
Act of revealing information
- apologyStatement acknowledging wrongdoing
- transparencyState of being see-through
- ethicsStudy of right conduct
- disciplinary actionFormal response to violations
Freedom from medical harm
- checklistsItemized task records
- double-checkingConfirming something a second time
- barcode scanningOptical product identification method
- peer reviewExpert evaluation before publication
quality improvement · simulation training · standardization · debriefing · redundancy
malpractice
Harmful professional negligence
- lawsuitCivil court proceeding
- litigationLegal dispute process
- liabilityLegal or financial obligation
negligence · damages · settlement · plaintiff · defendant · deposition · verdict · expert testimony · standard of care · breach of duty
complication
Factor that adds difficulty
- disabilityImpairment affecting life activities
- deathCessation of life
- infectionPathogen invasion causing illness
hemorrhage · sepsis · organ damage · allergic reaction · overdose · underdose · drug interaction · permanent injury · psychological trauma · readmission
misdiagnosis
Incorrect identification of ailment
- delayed diagnosisMedical conclusion reached late
- communication breakdownFailure to convey meaning
- equipment failureMachinery breakdown
near miss
Narrowly averted incident
- human factorsStudy of user-system interaction
- fatigueWeariness from prolonged exertion
- understaffingInsufficient workforce levels
poor communication · safety culture · cognitive overload · interruption
disclosure
Act of revealing information
- apologyStatement acknowledging wrongdoing
- transparencyState of being see-through
- ethicsStudy of right conduct
disciplinary action · remediation · corrective action · peer support
patient safety
Freedom from medical harm
- checklistsItemized task records
- double-checkingConfirming something a second time
- barcode scanningOptical product identification method
peer review · quality improvement · simulation training · standardization · debriefing · redundancy
- accidentsaccident, car accident, bike accident, mishap, traffic accident
- death causescause of death, natural causes, manner of death, accidental death, natural death
- malpracticemalpractice, legal malpractice, malpractice insurance, professional negligence, malpractice suit
- medical crimesMedicare fraud, Medicaid fraud, nursing home abuse, overbilling, false claims
- health datablood pressure, heart rate, pulse, weight, height
- harmharming, injury, hurting, abuse, injuring
medical errorbest practice
Accepted superior method
standard of care · evidence-based medicine · flawless execution
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