Medical error
Medical error
Medical error (pronunciation: /ˈmɛdɪkəl ˈɛrər/) is a preventable adverse effect of care, whether or not it is evident or harmful to the patient. This might include an inaccurate or incomplete diagnosis or treatment of a disease, injury, syndrome, behavior, infection, or other ailment.
Etymology
The term "medical error" is derived from the Latin words "medicus" meaning "pertaining to healing" and "error" meaning "a wandering, straying".
Types of Medical Errors
Medical errors can be broadly classified into two categories:
- Diagnostic error: This occurs when a doctor makes a mistake in diagnosing a patient's condition. This could be due to a lack of information, misinterpretation of information, or failure to consider other possible diagnoses.
- Treatment error: This occurs when a doctor makes a mistake in the treatment of a patient's condition. This could be due to a lack of knowledge about the correct treatment, failure to follow the correct treatment protocol, or failure to monitor the patient's response to treatment.
Related Terms
- Patient safety: This is the prevention of errors and adverse effects to patients associated with health care.
- Adverse event: This is an injury caused by medical management rather than the underlying disease or condition of the patient.
- Healthcare quality: This is the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge.
- Medical malpractice: This is a legal cause of action that occurs when a medical or health care professional deviates from standards in his or her profession, thereby causing injury to a patient.
See Also
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Medical error
- Wikipedia's article - Medical error
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