When a serious injury or illness impacts a person’s life, their first decision likely involves where to seek medical care. Depending upon how critical the need for care is, that decision may end with a visit to a local emergency room. From there, an inpatient hospitalization is a logical next step. 

Ideally, the hospital will be a facility where the best doctors, most skilled nurses, and cutting-edge medical care are provided. Even if a hospital with all three of these qualities can be located, it cannot be guaranteed that errors will not occur regarding the care that an individual receives. Specifically, workflow errors involving a wide range of problems can occur. These errors can, unfortunately, lead to serious harm to patients. 

What Are the Most Common Hospital Workflow Errors?

Due to the fast pace, volume of care providers, and lack of knowledge on the part of most patients, many errors committed by doctors and nurses in a hospital go unseen. On top of that, many errors suffered by hospital patients are not immediately identifiable. This means that a patient may not notice any symptoms until hours or even days after the event has taken place. 

Errors in Failing to Correctly Diagnose. Hospital workflow errors can impact a patient’s diagnosis. A misdiagnosis may result from a doctor who reads blood test results too quickly because he has a dozen more patients to see before the end of the hour. Even a delayed diagnosis can make a bad situation worse. Failing to receive a pertinent diagnosis quickly at the hospital can worsen an existing condition. Sometimes, time is of the essence when it comes to identifying and treating a condition.

Surgical Mistakes. One of the most sensitive, potential life-altering components to a hospitalization is the decision about whether to undergo a surgical procedure. Patients trust surgeons to operate without error during a procedure. Hospital workflow errors can rear their ugly heads in a surgical situation, as well. Consider a surgeon who is double-booked. A replacement surgeon may need to be scheduled for a patient’s procedure. If that surgeon is ill-prepared or unfamiliar with the patient’s medical history, the odds of a bad outcome increase dramatically. 

Failure to Communicate Among Hospital Employees. As with any other workplace, hospitals require clear communication amongst co-workers and their patients. Hospital staff must be able to ensure that all providers are on the same page for a patient’s care plan. Likewise, a patient and their family must have a good idea about their diagnoses, care options, and recommendations for future care. When instructions among hospital personnel are unclear, or a patient does not understand all available treatment options, harmful results become more common. 

What Hospital Workflow Errors Are Most Common?

A patient may interact with one or two hospital employees throughout their inpatient stay. However, an error regarding their treatment may have been caused by multiple people with whom the patient has never interacted before. When a hospital has a workflow problem that has a propensity to cause problems, it is critical for patient care that the issue be identified.  

In a “post-COVID” world, hospitals frequently deal with the consequences of being understaffed. Medical personnel, notably doctors and nurses, are overworked in many area hospitals. This places a great deal of stress upon these healthcare providers. An overworked care provider is more likely to make mistakes that impact patient care and can lead to harmful results. 

Most hospitals prioritize having electronic records systems that are up to date with the most modern advancements. Tracking a patient’s response to various types of treatment or keeping up with changes in medication are just a few ways that online records can benefit the type of care that a patient receives. When those systems have flaws, or if an undertrained employee is unaware of how to properly enter information, errors occur. 

Finally, hospitals have a significant amount of distractions. Crowded waiting rooms and floors of patients scrambling for beds. Operating rooms have strict protocols intended to maintain order, but even they are prone to unexpected occurrences. In the world of high-stakes medicine, distractions occur at every turn.

The Impact of Misdiagnoses on Patient Care in Hospitals 

Misdiagnoses occur in a variety of shapes and sizes. For example, a condition may be wrongfully diagnosed because of an error in transcribing the results of a blood test. Another problem that may be equally as harmful as a misdiagnosis is a delayed diagnosis. When a diagnosis is not made at an appropriate time, opportunities to treat a condition may be missed. Finally, a missed diagnosis occurs when a physician fails to identify an appropriate diagnosis. The result is prolonged medical conditions and symptoms, and the possibility of harmful treatment being recommended. 

Misdiagnoses may result from a variety of errors, but the end result is usually the same- unnecessary harm suffered by patients. Some mistakes in a busy hospital environment are unavoidable or at least do not rise to the level of medical malpractice. 

However, a misdiagnosis is frequently a top issue that hospitals seek to minimize simply because they occur so frequently. The propensity of a misdiagnosis to make a bad situation much worse means hospitals must be on guard when identifying circumstances where a misdiagnosis may occur. 

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Hospital workflow errors tend to produce harms that greatly exceed the size of the initial mistake. A doctor, nurse, or hospital who makes an error may not only impact a patient’s treatment on that day, but the foreseeable future. When a hospital fails to implement work processes and procedures which place a premium on minimizing these costly mistakes, harmful results occur. 

Contact Crim Law, PLLC today for a free case review. Our West Virginia medical malpractice lawyers take their responsibility to serve clients in matters related to hospital workflow errors seriously. We put our clients’ needs first and serve their interests as our primary concern.