tailieunhanh - Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America, edited by Paul Gluck

Lewis Thomas, in his semi-autobiographical book The Youngest Science: Notes of a Medicine-Watcher, reminisced about his father, an internist in the early twentieth century who would sit by his patient, holding his hand while nature affected the cure. There was little else he could offer. Now, after almost 100 years, we have crossed vast frontiers in medicine, from hormones to the immune system to unlocking the promise of genomics. We have relegated diseases such as erythroblastosis to the history books and transformed AIDS from a death sentence to a chronic illness. Yet each new treatment modality brings with it more complexity and greater risk for medical error. According to. | ELSEVIER VUADtRt OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY CLINICS OF NORTH AMERICA ELSEVIER SAUNDERS Obstet Gynecol Clin N Am 35 2008 xiii-xiv OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY CLINICS OF NORTH AMERICA Foreword William F. Rayburn MD MBA Consulting Editor The discipline of obstetrics and gynecology has a long tradition of leadership in quality assessment and accompanying patient safety. The quest for patient safety is an ongoing continuously refined process incorporating information sharing and collaboration into daily practice. Quality improvement efforts have shifted from a punitive approach to an educational process to assist all providers. This issue of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America edited by Paul Gluck MD brings together leading advocates for improving patient safety in general and in obstetrics and gynecology specifically to increase our understanding and to suggest solutions. Practical suggestions are offered to reduce errors in the office during surgery and in labor and delivery. Depending on the setting and type of practice certain solutions mentioned in these articles can be implemented rapidly while others require incremental change. Efforts to improve quality and safety are more likely to achieve consensus if changes come from within the departments. These changes include working collaboratively in teams improving communication and increasing utilization of information technology. As described in this issue examples of ways to reduce errors include 1 using electronic medical records and e-prescribing 2 working collaboratively in multidisciplinary teams and 3 using high-fidelity simulations for learning and for assessing competence and credentialing. Disclosing any medical error especially to an injured patient or to a grieving relative is one of the most difficult but most important tasks. 0889-8545 08 - see front matter 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi xiv FOREWORD Most medical .