Checklists, teamwork minimizing mistakes in medicine

“Anytime somebody comes in to have a procedure done or just have some sort of hospital admission, there’s a 1 in 500 chance during that encounter that that person may not survive,” said Ellner, a trauma surgeon and director of surgical quality at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center. “That’s on the same level as mountain climbing or bungee jumping.”….  Some of what goes into Ellner’s preparations for surgery is routine, and some of it is part of a larger cultural change that he and others are pushing for in operating rooms across the country. It’s aimed at preventing errors using techniques as complex as data analysis and as seemingly simple as teamwork and calling colleagues by their first names. Read more