A recent study has found that good communication between hospital staff and strong organization are much more important than technology for a successful outcome in heart attack patients.
A team of doctors from across the country recently published a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine, a publication of the American College of Physicians. The team studied 11 hospitals from the top five percent and bottom five percent of hospitals for heart attack patient mortality rates. The team visited the hospitals and conducted interviews of over 150 doctors, nurses, pharmacists, administrators, and other hospital staff. The team then compared hospital heart attack statistics with themes they found in the interviews.
The study found that what distinguished the top hospitals from the bottom hospitals was not the newest technology or most cutting edge practices. It was, rather, the timeless advantage of strong communication between all levels of hospital staff, as well as a strong organizational system with clear values and goals for patient care.
Heart attack patients have a long road to recovery ahead of them, and even hospitals with strong protocols for patient care can let an aspect of someone's complex medical needs slip through the cracks. For example, a patient may be discharged without a key prescription being filled. The point when the patient returns to the hospital with complications and the mistake is discovered reveals the biggest difference between the top hospitals and the bottom hospitals. The staffs at the bottom-rated hospitals often play the blame game when a medical mistake occurs, and hospital administrations try to avoid dealing with the repercussions of the mistake.
At top hospitals, however, staffs quickly fix the mistake rather than waste time with blame, and administrators handle the mistake efficiently. This type of action is essential to improving patient care and to protecting patients from miscommunication.
