Earlier today, the popular healthcare blog The Doctor Weighs In featured an article by the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety on the benefits of safety checklists.
The article calls attention to five benefits of safety checklists in healthcare settings:
- Checklists provide a sense of confidence that you’ve taken all the right steps.
- Checklists are effective at reducing medical mistakes.
- Reducing medical mistakes lowers litigation costs.
- Checklists provide technical solutions for technical problems.
- Checklists are free.
The article explores how checklists can summarize evidence-based research to guide decisions. It also examines how checklists can improve processes at hospitals, using the PCA Safety Checklist as an example of how checklists can lead to better patient outcomes.
This is a great initiative towards reducing medical errors. It is beneficial for patients to have their own checklists as well. They can be utilized when there is a doctor’s visit or when there is a visitation to the hospital. Preparation is key!