Application of Quality Management in Promoting Patient Safety and Preventing Medical Errors

Abstract

The combination of healthcare professionals, processes and technologies bring significant benefits for patients. However, it also involves an inevitable risk of adverse events. Patients receiving health care in health institutions have the potential to experience some forms of medical errors. The word medical error commonly encompasses terms such as mistakes, near misses, active and latent errors. This signifies the complexity and multidimensional nature of the error. The consequences can be costly to the patients, the health professionals, the health care institutions, and the entire health care system. The costs may involve human, economic, and social aspects. Thus, ensuring quality health care can contribute to patients' safety by reducing potential medical errors in practice. This chapter aims to introduce a quality management framework for improving the quality and effectiveness of services, reducing medical errors and making the healthcare system safer for patients.