Orlando Medical Malpractice Lawyers Review Hospital Study
While we face great bias in favor of doctors and hospitals in our medical malpractice trials, a recent study may help to get the word out that overcrowded hospitals trying to streamline care and cut costs put their patients at risk every day. A study by two Boston hospitals finds preventable mistakes including medication errors, nerve injuries and infections.
The study, published in the May issue of the journal Medical Care, found that the top goals of hospitals, (1) to cut costs and (2) improve patient safety are inconsistent and work against each other. What is amazing to me is that it actually took a study by health care providers to determine that you can not focus on saving money without sacrificing patient care and safety. As this study points out when hospitals cut costs it usually decreases staffing. Specifically, the study found a 10 percent increase in the patient-to-nurse ratio at one of the four hospitals which led to a 28 percent increase in adverse events.
Researchers at Brigham and Women’s and Massachusetts General Hospital reviewed 6,841 individual patient records over 12 months from a number of hospitals and found 1,530 adverse events. Obviously this study demonstrates that hospitals are big business, with a focus on the bottom line rather than on patient care.
While this study alone will not counteract the bias that we will face when we select our next medical malpractice jury, this study and similar information may begin to help educate a future jurors. Certainly, throughout our trials, we focus our juries attention on the choices of the defendant health care providers which reflect haste, inattention and carelessness as a result of inadequate staffing or other cost-saving measures.
