In the past, patients have been exposed to a lot of dangers during the treatment process. There are various elements which may be the main causes of the dangers. Following the alarming rates of dangers that patients are being exposed to through improper treatment process, concrete support has been introduced. Following these, patient safety became a major element in healthcare. It aims at reporting, analyzing, and preventing any medical error that often causes adverse healthcare issues.
The US Congress has been at the fore front in fight for patient safety. The Congress is entrusted the role of ensuring laws in the United States are favorable to the citizens and all citizens have the chance of living comfortably. Through proper health, the congress has touched the lives of various Americans as well as foreigners. This comes with the role that the congress has undertaken in bid to ensure its citizens are safe. The congress states that it is the role of physicians to protect patients and not to expose them to health hazards (Vance, 2008).
The Institute of Medicine (IOM), which is a medical body in the United States, was in a dilemma on the effectiveness of patient safety in the American society. There was no clear definition about the topic by the organization on what patient safety meant. However, IOM decided to pursue the element to the end after realizing that cases of patients being exposed to various health hazards were increasing. Through the pressure, IOM approached the congress with the need for a law that will ensure patients were always safe whenever they sought medical attention in the United States (Kohn, 2011).
After exclusive consultation with the IOM, the congress gave in and passed The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005, which is also known as Patient Safety Act. This was a set of rules that ensured that all patients were handled accordingly and there was no discrimination of whatever form. It dictated that all members of the society must be covered by the law against poor treatment methods by physicians. Therefore, patient safety rule was set to govern the process of ensuring all patients were safe. The combination of the Patient Safety Rule and the Patient Safety Act authorized the development of Patient Safety Organization. This organization was aimed at overseeing excellence on how patients were handled in hospitals. The organization was also supposed to take care of the quality of healthcare that patients got from physicians. Healthcare delivery must be improved through quality and safety services for all patients (Kohn, 2011).
There are several ways through which the congress could have ensured that the society was exposed to proper healthcare. One of the main ways was by ensuring that physicians or clinicians provided secure environment that would make patients comfortable and free from dangers that may result from physician’s ignorance. One of the elements that led to the rise of concern for patient’s safety is the consistently rising statistics on the number of patients who were treated under extensive negligence. Therefore, the patient safety Act aimed at ensuring that all physicians were ready to offer their services with all keenness and they were responsible of any problem that may be encountered by patients as they undergo the treatment process (Child, 2004). This was an effort to ensure that patients are not mishandled in the process of treatment by clinicians as well as physicians.
The Patient Safety Act also emphasized on the qualification of a physician. There must be proof that the physician or clinician studied in a recognized medical institution. Without any cause of doubt, the physician must portray the expertise gained in the medical institution. This requirement is extremely significant in fight against mishandling of patients. Patients deserve excellent treatment and no physician should assume internship on the health of a patient. Instead, excellence is required on the kind of service the individual is required to offer. Therefore, through IOM, the government had been alerted on the prevalence of unqualified physician in the medical field. It is now upon any healthcare facility to ensure that all employees are qualified and can handle all duties that may be assigned to them on the basis of their academic qualifications. The IOM argued that with excellently qualified physicians, safety for patients will be guaranteed (Kohn, 2011).
Also, patients had massive role to play in ensuring their safety. They deserve excellent care by physicians through proper qualifications for physicians. However, it may be challenging on how they impact on their own safety but there are unique strategies that they may use. One of them is weighing the keenness of their physicians when they are being treated. If a physician is ignorant of minor elements that may have contributed to the ill health, he or she may contribute to the worsening of the situation instead of treating. The patient should report such incidences to save other patients who may be exposed to the same danger (Child, 2004). The Patient Safety Act puts it clear that patients should be responsible of the kind of services they receive from their doctors.
Therefore, all members of the United States have been granted the role of ensuring Patient Safety is employed. The government is at the fore front through the enactment of the Patient Safety Act by the US Congress. All medical organizations in the United States must respect the provisions of the Patient Safety Act.
References
Child, A. P. (2004). Keeping patients safe transforming the work environment of nurses. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press.
Kohn, L. T. (2011). Patient Safety Act: HHS Is in the Process of Implementing the Act, So Its Effectiveness Cannot Yet be Evaluated. NewYork: DIANE Publishing.
Vance, J. E. (2008). A guide to patient safety in the medical practice. Chicago: American Medical Association.
