Dear Senator/Representative (Legislator’s Name):
As a leader of a non-profit health care organization, I would like to respectfully express my views and observations about the current health care status in our country. In particular, medication administration procedures. I would also like to call your attention about my goal in promoting a safer health care system for the benefits of all patients across our country. I agree that the reform in our health care system may have been long overdue. It feels great to know that our government is exerting its efforts to improve the overall system through health care reform laws. However, I need to emphasize one of the issues, which for me, can cause dangers to the lives of our patients. In the administration of health services and procedures, medication errors have been a long existing issue that needs to be addressed. We can solve it not only by creating policies, but also by utilizing the available technology systems. Therefore, I would like to propose a policy that will integrate the skills of our health professionals and the available technology systems that can reduce possible medication errors.
Proposed Health Policy
Why the action is needed
Promoting the integration of information technology to medication administration is essential to avoid medical errors. Thus, there are various risks that relate to the issue as identified by some studies. Ghenadenik et al (2012) explain that the adverse events in health care institutions are now becoming a common practice in relation to errors. Medical errors are some of the most frequent events that occur in many institutions, as some of the professionals do not follow the specific ethical standards. I would like to emphasize the specific outcomes of this adverse event, such as increase in patient mortality, patient morbidity, increase in care costs, and even delays in patient’s hospital discharge. Medical errors do not only affect the patients undesirably, because it also impacts our medical professionals negatively. For instance, the risk of losing their professional license and legal consequences. Once established as a policy, the application of information technology to health care procedures would reduce the aforementioned adverse effects.
Recommended course of action
I appreciate the effort, as your good office continues to further its actions toward better health care system. However, I would like to encourage you to reflect on one of the major actions that can help in promoting better medication administration. The policy must clearly state that health institutions should implement the full integration of information technology with various processes. These include 1) physician order, 2) automated dispensing, 3) electronic medication reconciliation, 4) barcode medication, and 5) electronic health records. These are the vital components of policy that will prevent medical errors. The policy must be implemented as soon as the institution obtains all the necessary equipment and technology. Preventing errors must be the main focus and should be one of the top priorities across all health care settings (Agrawal, 2009).
Importance of health policy change
The importance of this policy proposal can create a big impact to our current health care system. Specifically, it will save lives and promote patient safety using more accurate procedures. Montesi and Lechi (2009) said that drug-related and medical error events have essential implications. Thus, these implications must be addressed through creating a policy that will prevent the further occurrence of such implications. The policy that will integrate medical and technological aspects prevent the patient’s extended length of stay in the hospital. It also averts any discomfort and potential disability or even an increased mortality rate. Thus, the root cause of these events will be addressed through a changed policy.
Evolution of Medication Administration Errors and how it became a Concern
Who will be affected by this policy
I would also like to highlight the issue of medical errors as increasing concerns of many health care leaders like myself. It is important for us to that patients receive quality health care at all times. There could be no exact date that will account the first occurrence of medical error in the history of health care. However, it is an increasing global concern due to its adverse effects to the patients, medical professionals, and health institutions. One study shows errors in medication administration are still the major reasons of mortality and morbidity among patients who were hospitalized (Tobias et al., 2013). This is an alarming truth that needs solution as soon as possible.
This issue affects the patients primarily, thus they are also the ones who will benefit from this change in policy. In the event that the full medical-technological integration of our health care system is in place, there will be better outcomes. Both for health care professionals and the patients themselves will benefit from this initiative. For instance, physicians will be less likely to feel the fear of any legal repercussions in relation to sanctions, lawsuits and even the revocation of their professional license due to error-free medications. On the other hand, patients will be saved from possible extended confinement in the hospital due to more efficient medical processes.
Responsibilities of the Organization’s Leadership
Impact of the policy on resources
Our organization is aware that once the utilization of information technology throughout the medication procedures, it may create various impacts on our resources. Our staff need to undergo special training to increase their technological skills to ensure they are familiar with the new procedures. Medical personnel need to be reminded of the essence of following ethical standards as it is also one of the reasons that errors occur. Therefore, the organization would need to release funds intended for training purposes. Moreover, the acquisition of new equipment will impact our organization’s financial resources during the initial stages of the policy’s implementation. However, the reduction of medical errors and increase in procedural efficiencies will likely meet the requirements of this policy proposal.
Impact of not following ethical standards
The lack of understanding about the importance of ethical standards may lead to adverse outcomes. For instance, errors in the administration of medicines or even irresponsible execution of other related medical procedures. If ethical standards will not be followed, organizational rules and regulations will not be followed as well, which would lead to poor patient care. There will be a domino effect that will adversely affect the overall operations of the organization. According to this policy, there must be an emphasis on the essence of following the ethical standards in order to achieve the optimum outcomes of the change efforts. Thus, if not following ethical standards will be the root cause of medical errors, then it would leave the facility open to litigation (Szostak, 2011).
Responsibility of Licensing Board as it Applies to Patient Safety
The Licensing Board’s responsibility when it comes to patient safety is more related to assessing the professionals’ knowledge and not their skills (Kohn, Corrigan, & Donaldson, 2000). The idea encompassing the responsibilities of the Licensing Board may consider the health professional competence in a complaint involving the patient safety. Due to constant changes in health care and development of technological advancement, the existing licensing processes must also strengthen. This is to ensure that health professionals are properly assessed in terms of knowledge and skills in practice.
Conclusion
These are few of the significant issues that I would like to address through this proposal. The recommended courses of actions will likely to support the reasons that medical-technological integration must be applied to health institutions. However, the success of this effort to reduce medication errors depends on the improvement of existing policies. Once medical errors have been eliminated and health professionals are constantly guided by the ethical standards, the improvement on the overall patient safety across all health institutions will be attained.
Thank you for your time and I am hoping for a more successful outcome of our efforts to improve our health care system.
Sincerely,
References
Agrawal, A. (2009). Medication errors: prevention using information technology systems.British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 67(6), 681-686.
Ghenadenik, A., Rochais, É., Atkinson, S., & Bussières, J. (2012). Potential Risks Associated with Medication Administration, as Identified by Simple Tools and Observations. CJHP,65(4), 300-307.
Kohn, L. T., Corrigan, J. M., & Donaldson, M. S. (2000). Book Review To Err is Human: building a safer health system. Br J Healthcare Management, 6(9), 413.
Montesi, G., & Lechi, A. (2009). Prevention of medication errors: detection and audit. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 67(6), 651-655.
Szostak, D. C. (2011). Apology Not Accepted: Disclosure of Medical Errors and Legal Liability. DePaul Journal of Health Care 13Law, 13(3), 367-376.
Tobias, J. D., Yadav, G., Gupta, S. K., & Jain, G. (2013). Medication errors: A matter of serious concern. Anaesth, Pain & Intensive Care, 17(2), 111-114.
