Is Medical Malpractice the Fifth Leading Cause of Death in the U.S.?
Medical malpractice may well be the fifth-leading cause of death in the United States according to the Millennium Research Group (MRG). This global authority on medical technology market intelligence has conducted a detailed and thorough analysis of the acute care clinical information systems (CIS) market and finds that a major driver in the US is the demand for improvement in patient safety.
Medical errors are the fifth-leading cause of deaths in the US, with up to 98,000 deaths annually. According to the new report entitled US Markets for Acute Care Clinical Information Systems, hospitals are adopting CIS to help them provide adequate, timely care and reduce the frequency of preventable errors.
Medical errors in the healthcare system arise from miscommunication, physician order transcription errors, adverse drug events, or incomplete patient medical records. Generally, medical errors are caused by overcrowded, understaffed clinical areas with complex workflow patterns, and incomplete or inefficient communication between clinical areas. Through the use of a CIS, professionals within each clinical area are able to access and use information pertinent to a patient's medical profile and history. As a result, CIS can effectively help prevent errors and enhance patient safety.
The CIS market -- comprised of radiology information systems, pharmacy and medication management information systems, cardiovascular and cardiology information systems, laboratory information systems, emergency department information systems, and critical care information systems -- was valued at over $900 million in 2005. By 2010, revenues in the CIS market will exceed $1.5 billion.
A CIS is a computer-based inpatient information system designed for collecting, storing, manipulating, and making available clinical information that is important to the health care delivery process. It provides access to a patient's electronic medical record-clinical data storage technology that encodes the patient's previous medical history, responses to medication, test results, and current treatment. Certainly, every reasonable technological advance which increases patient safety should be considered. Too many medical malpractice cases result from errors that were easily avoidable.
