Prior to beginning work on this discussion forum,

• Read Chapters 10 and 16 from your textbook.
• Read the book Medical Error Reduction and Prevention.
• Review the webpage Study Suggests Medical Errors Now Third Leading Cause of Death in the U.S.: Physicians Advocate for Changes in How Deaths Are Reported to Better Reflect Reality.
• Watch the video Introduction to Communication and Optimal Resolution (CANDOR).

Health care administrators and clinical staff struggle to help patients avoid medical errors and harm. According to a news release from Johns Hopkins Medicine, “250,000 deaths per year are due to medical error” (2016, para. 1). Ethical dilemmas occur and are handled using best practices, centered on national benchmarks, for the prevention of harm, the application of medications, alarms, passive restraints, physical restraints, and the reporting of harm events. Yet even with the best of intentions, care plans, and patient education programs, medical errors continue to be an unsolved dilemma.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (2016) states the following:

The CANDOR process toolkit provides a framework for hospitals to improve their response to unexpected patient harm events. Implementation of all elements of the framework is designed to enhance a number of short, and long-term improvements. In the short term, hospitals will develop processes to improve the reporting and monitoring of adverse events and promote better care for patients through candid, caring communication in the wake of an adverse event. In the longer term, hospitals will experience fewer medical liability claims, improved patient safety outcomes, and improved patient satisfaction scores by engaging patients and families throughout the CANDOR process. (“Introduction” section)

In this week’s discussion, address the following in a minimum of 500 words:

• Describe common medical errors involving patient assessment, diagnosis, treatment, discharge, and follow-up care.
• Explain how medical errors negatively impact the health care process for patients, caregivers, and health care organizations.
• Summarize the application and steps in the CANDOR process regarding improved communications and optimal resolution and the possible reduction in malpractice lawsuits.
• Summarize the principle of medical ethics and the physician-patient relationship.