TY  - CHAP
M1  - Book, Section
TI  - Preface
A1  - Stahel, Philip F.
Y1  - 2017
N1  - 
T2  - Surgical Patient Safety: A Case-Based Approach
AB  - No  surgeon  in  the  world  would  get  up  in  the  morning  with  the  intent  of  creating  a  surgical  complication.  Beyond  dispute,  surgeons  and  patients  are  intrinsically  aligned  in  their  intent  of  avoiding  complications  and  adverse  events.  In  spite  of  this  unwavering  bond,  surgeons  have  traditionally  fallen  short  of  rising  up  as  credible  leaders  and  stewards  for  patient  safety.  In  the  wake  of  this  chronic  negligence,  current  statistics  elevated  medical  errors  to  the  third  leading  cause  of  death  in  the  United  States,  following  cardiovascular  disease  and  cancer.  Strikingly,  in  the  21st  century,  we  still  have  to  come  to  terms  with  the  absurd  reality  that  it  is  significantly  safer  to  board  a  commercial  airplane,  a  spacecraft,  or  a  nuclear  submarine,  than  to  be  admitted  to  a  US  hospital.  The  evidence-based  estimate  of  more  than  400,000  preventable  annual  deaths  occurring  in  US  hospitals  every  year  (Journal  of  Patient  Safety  2013,  9:122-8)  is  analogous  to  3  jumbo  jets  crashing  each  day,  all  year  long,  in  perpetuity.  In  this  hypothetical  scenario,  the  Federal  Aviation  Administration  would  immediately  ground  all  commercial  airplanes  until  the  underlying  error  was  recognized  and  irrevocably  fixed.  In  contrast,  the  medical  profession  continues  to  accept  errors  that  lead  to  preventable  patient  harm  as  an  unfortunate  and  inevitable  “side  effect”  of  modern  health  care.  As  surgeons,  in  particular,  we  have  been  historically  too  cavalier  and  lenient  in  our  attempt  to  understand,  report,  and  mitigate  our  own  complication  rates.  Unquestionably,  surgeons  do  not  appreciate  when  their  hospital  administrators  dictate  how  patients  should  be  treated,  and  most  of  us  possess  an  intrinsic  adversity  to  filling  out  forms  and  checklists,  and  adhering  to  regulatory  compliance-mandated  paperwork  and  protocols.  Yet,  the  unintentional  void  created  by  the  absence  of  surgeon  leadership  in  the  field  of  patient  safety  has  meanwhile  been  filled  by  other  stakeholders,  including  patient  advocacy  groups,  malpractice  lawyers,  and  legislators.  The  antiquated  paradigm  of  patient  safety  standards  being  driven  by  a  fear  of  medicolegal  repercussion  has  escalated  to  an  unjustified  and  fiscally  irresponsible  practice  of  “defensive  medicine.”  This  historically  engraved,  negative  default  must  be  turned  around  into  a  positive  force  driven  by  surgeon  leadership.  It  is  time  for  a  change  in  mindset.  A  famous  Chinese  proverb  fittingly  states,  “The  best  time  to  plant  a  tree  was  40  years  ago;  the  second-best  time  is  now.”  Today  is  the  time  for  surgeons  to  make  up  for  past  negligence  by  taking  the  lead  in  driving  patient  safety  as  an  irrefutable  surgical  responsibility.  
SN  - 
PB  - McGraw-Hill Education
CY  - New York, NY
Y2  - 2024/04/18
UR  - accesssurgery.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1144001543
ER  -