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You are here > Home > Reading Lists > Politics, Policy & Reform > Internal Bleeding: The Truth Behind America's Terrifying Epidemic of Medical Mistakes Internal Bleeding: The Truth
Behind America's Terrifying Epidemic of Medical Mistakes Hardcover: 460 pages
Two dynamic physician-professors investigate (and re-investigate) the rampant errors endemic to modern medical care and suggest ways to prevent hospitals and doctors from inadvertently killing their patients. Emerging from these compelling stories and provocative insights is a powerful case for change--by policymakers, hospitals, doctors, nurses, and even patients and their families. This updated edition includes the latest findings on patient safety by two of the foremost authorities on medical mistakes. Wachter & Shojania underscore the depth and breadth of dangers in medical care; more important, they suggest basic safety procedures and hard-nosed remedies that could make erratic systems fail-safe and save countless lives. With a mix of horrifying medical accidents and warmly logical problem solving, Internal Bleeding provides a serious, if graphic, look at an industry where a simple mistake can lead directly to death. Happily, authors (both are medical doctors) have as many practical solutions as they have tragic errors. Generally based on updated systems and protocols in processes like computerized prescription writing and physically initialing specific body parts to be operated on, their solutions are both sympathetic and angry. Pointing out impatient, overworked or generally stubborn doctors and nurses that are resistant to changing procedures, they also are quick to detail the overwhelming combination of low funds and the drive for profit that keep hospitals from always providing the optimum working (and healing) conditions. Most helpful to nervous patients (and you'll almost certainly be nervous after reading this) is a short chapter offering advice on how to insure you're well informed on all aspects of your health care. While the language, and solutions, presented are often complex, the knowledgeable, personal slant provided by both authors lends a new perspective to the continuing debate between abstract policies and daily practices in health care. "Although the title of this dense book is more than a little alarmist, Wachter and Shojania, professors of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, convincingly argue that a flawed hospital system, rather than flawed individuals, is responsible for the thousands of deaths that result from medical mistakes each year. Many of the chapters begin with terrifying but now familiar stories of patients who received fatal overdoses of chemotherapy drugs or had the wrong leg removed in surgery. The authors explain that because of the fragmentation of care in modern medicine, errors are often due to communication problems that arise during patient 'handoffs.' They also point out that medicine lacks the kind of safeguards used in other high-tech industries like the commercial airline business. While acknowledging the many challenges underfunded hospitals face, Wachter and Shojania offer practical solutions, such as using computers to prescribe drugs instead of relying on often-illegible handwritten notes and employing 'hospitalists,' who are doctors who focus on integrating care between departments and the inpatient and outpatient settings. As a result, their book should satisfy both those seeking gory details about the patient who left the operating table with a sponge in her body and those looking for a thoughtful analysis of this serious public health problem." - Publishers Weekly If you are interested in policy or books about health care reform, please see our up-to-date collection here: Politics, Policy & Reform. (information from the publisher) Jump to a List / Health Administration & Leadership / Physician Executive, Medical Staff & Practice Management / Finance, Accounting, Economics, Billing & Reimbursement / Coding for Hospital, Physician & Clinical Services / Law, Malpractice, Ethics, Accreditation & Compliance / Quality Improvement, Outcomes & Customer Service / Risk Management, Security, Error Reduction & Patient Safety / Information Systems, Technology & Medical Records / Clinical Management & Executive Nursing / Behavioral Health, Social Work & Psychiatry Management / Human Resources, Management & Supervision / Directories, Data, Trends & Benchmarks / Software & CD-ROMs / Gift Ideas & Recommended Gifts / Journals, Magazines & Newsletters / Search for Books / Books Index / You may also be interested in: / Directory of Healthcare Recruiters / Return to Pages: / Home Page / Toolbox for Health Administrators / Book Lists & Bookstore |
