Flying Fortresses and Medical Checklists: How a World War II era bomber can save patient lives today
Flying Fortresses and Medical Checklists: How a World War II era bomber can save patient lives today Paradoxically, while the patient safety movement has been increasingly embraced by Ob/Gyns, our efforts to create a safer environment grow more challenging each year as the healthcare industry becomes increasingly complex. During her hospital stay, a patient is likely to interact with staff from numerous hospital departments in addition to her physician (e.g., nurses, medical assistants, physical, respiratory and occupational therapists, social worker, dieticians, diagnostic imaging staff, phlebotomists, pharmacists not to mention, admitting personnel and ward clerks). M edical imaging increasingly provides us with increasingly detailed but often irrelevant data. The result is a veritable deluge of records and documentation with little time for one person to sort through it all to obtain a global view of the patient’s status. Worse, even when such a global vie