As you may be aware, heart disease and cancer are the two leading causes of death in the United States. But can you guess what the third leading cause of death is? It’s preventable medical errors. Such a sobering and shocking fact may make you think that going to the hospital could do more harm to you than good, but obviously going to the hospital when you’re dealing with a medical emergency is absolutely necessary. You shouldn’t be scared to receive medical treatment.
Now, if that medical treatment goes wrong, you should absolutely hold the liable person, party or parties responsible for their negligence. But what if you could influence these entities in a positive way to prevent any medical errors or negligence? One study thinks patients have this power.
What the study found is that patients who felt they weren’t being “respected” by their medical staff were much more likely to suffer a preventable medical error. The study also found significant portions of their respondents felt that their medical staff didn’t think they were capable of being involved in their own care, or interrupted then when they trying to tell them something.
So what does this mean? You have to get the attention of your medical staff and show them that you’re a person, not just another number in a long line of medical records. You can do this in a number of ways.
You can have family and friends with you during medical visits. You could write things down to reference later — and this also shows medical staff members that you are paying attention and watching their work closely. And you can ask plenty of questions, but just remember that you and your medical staffers are a partnership — so treat them with respect in the same ways that you would like to receive their respect.
Source: Forbes, “Consumer Reports Study: Demanding Respect From Doctors May Save Your Life,” Robert J. Szczerba, Jan. 19, 2015
