Global Health Leader & Policy Innovator | Full Professor of Health Policy & Systems Research | Policy Expert, International Vaccine Institute | Former President, AIB-MENA Chapter | #HSR2026 Dubai Committee
This informative post by Válter R Fonseca for World Patient Safety Day highlights a critical issue in healthcare: diagnostic errors. It's sobering to realize that 16% of preventable patient harm stems from these errors, affecting patients across all healthcare settings. It also rightly emphasizes a multi-faceted approach to addressing this challenge (which were similarly discussed at the #IHFRio #WHC2024 this past week): 1. The call for policy-makers and healthcare leaders to create positive work environments and provide quality diagnostic tools is crucial. This top-down approach can significantly impact the accuracy and timeliness of diagnoses. 2. Encouraging continuous skill development for health workers is vital in an ever-evolving medical landscape. Staying updated with the latest diagnostic techniques and knowledge can drastically reduce errors. 3. The emphasis on patient engagement throughout the diagnostic process is particularly important. Patients who are well-informed and actively involved can provide crucial information and catch potential oversights. This holistic strategy – involving leadership, healthcare professionals, and patients – seems like a robust approach to tackling diagnostic errors. It's a reminder that patient safety is a shared responsibility and that improvements in this area can have far-reaching positive impacts on health outcomes and healthcare costs. As we reflect on this, it's clear that addressing diagnostic safety is not just about avoiding errors, but about creating a culture of continuous improvement and open communication in healthcare. This World Patient Safety Day message serves as a call to action for everyone involved in the healthcare system to play their part in enhancing diagnostic accuracy and, ultimately, patient safety. Dr Neelam Dhingra The Joint Commission Kevin Zacharyasz, M.En. International Hospital Federation World Health Organization Office at the EU World Health Organization MBR School of Government #PatientSafety #DiagnosticSafety #HealthcareQuality #ContinuousImprovement #PatientEngagement
MD PhD | Health Systems & Quality of Care Technical Officer, World Health Organization | Assistant Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon
WORLD PATIENT SAFETY DAY 17 September Diagnostic errors account for 16% of preventable patient harm and are common in all healthcare settings. Diagnostic errors can include missed, incorrect, delayed, or miscommunicated diagnoses. They can worsen patient outcomes and at times lead to prolonged or severe illness disability, or even death, and increased health care costs. Moving forward to addressing diagnostic safety: 📌 Policy-makers and healthcare leaders should foster positive workplace environments and provide quality diagnostic tools 📌 Health workers should be encouraged to develop their skills continuously 📌 Patients should be supported to be actively engaged throughout their diagnostic journey. Thank you for the invitation to represent the WHO Athens Office on Quality of Care and Patient Safety and speak at The Hospital of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Kauno klinikos Conference, Vilnius, Lithuania 🇱🇹. 🗞 https://lnkd.in/diy9eiB9 👀 https://lnkd.in/danVsSeT WHO Regional Office for Europe. World Health Organization Country Office in Greece. #leadership #healthsystems #healthcarequality
