As developers and health systems embrace artificial intelligence-powered software, a pressing question emerges: Who bears the burden when these innovations inadvertently harm patients? And especially when legal precedent offers only faint guidance. Let's take a look.
patient safety
When we talk of patient safety, the analogy is often to aviation. But perhaps like commercial flight's problems with baggage, the last little push -- from a very few to never -- is a very steep hurdle.
Physicians from across the political spectrum and the country, representing nearly every specialty, came to Washington, DC last week. They did so to advocate for patients, spotlighting many hidden ways healthcare dollars are wasted.
The adverse effects on patient safety from poor hospital scheduling and staffing are well known. This occurs when there's a shortage of experienced physicians and health professionals at work during non-standard hours. Maternal health is the latest focus.
The FDA's current regulatory framework is out of whack -- and it comes at the expense of patient safety. The Wild West of "stem cell" clinics continues. This time, patients are hospitalized with blood infections to spinal abscesses.
The systematic erosion of continuity of care has financial and personal health costs. This is well-known, especially to health professionals, and it's supported by overwhelming evidence. And yet, it persists.
When it comes to medical fundraising on social media, you may be gambling with the highest of stakes.
With hospital accreditation in itself a big business, it might be time for some oversight of such oversight.
It's time doctors and patients take charge of what goes on in the exam room or at the hospital bedside. Inane, tedious tasks that co-opt such visits are out of touch with real world medical practice.
When health insurers keep trying to practice medicine without a license, we all lose.
Identifying characteristics are essential to ensuring patient safety, so that the right treatment meets the right patient.
If health care fixes continue to undermine the doctor-patient relationship, financial costs won't be the only price paid.