Why safety must be the heart of modern health care

Millions of people take their lives in the hands of health care providers every day. They enter hospitals that expect healing, not an evil. However, medical errors remain one of the main causes of death in the world, a reality that gives reflection which calls into question the very foundation of medicine: “First of all, do not hurt”.

Despite the dedication of clinicians and caregivers, patient safety remains a silent crisis. It is time that we have paid her – and action – she desperately deserves.

Hidden epidemic: preventable damage in health care

According to a complete study published in BMJMedical errors can be responsible for 250,000 deaths per year in the United States only, making it the third cause of death after heart disease and cancer. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates The one in ten is injured when receiving hospital care in high income countries, with almost half of these incidents deemed to be avoidable.

These are not only figures, they represent mothers, fathers, children and friends who have suffered complications, have endured unnecessary procedures or lost their life due to errors that could have been avoided. Drug errors and diagnostic inaccuracies to dangerous surgical procedures and infections, the risks are omnipresent and the issues are devastating.

Systemic Ections: a question of culture, no competence

Unlike the sensationalism of professional misconduct accounts, most medical errors are not the result of incompetence. They are of a systemic nature, caused by communication failures, obsolete protocols, lack of staff, professional exhaustion and the absence of standardized safety practices. Health professionals often operate in an ecosystem that often favors speed and volume on reflection and vigilance.

What is necessary is not only better trained doctors, but better designed systems. Safety must be woven in the DNA of health establishments, thanks to robust reporting mechanisms, security control lists, open disclosure policies and, above all, a culture that enhances learning on blame.

Advocacy in action: the patient Safety Movement Foundation

Recognizing that the status quo cost too many lives, the entrepreneur and the innovator in medical technology Joe Kiani founded the Patient Safety Movement Foundation (PSMF) in 2012. With an ambitious and centered mission – man –zero deaths avoidable by 2030—PSMF has galvanized health care providers, decision -makers, patients and families to plead for transparent data -based solutions.

What distinguishes the foundation is its commitment to patient safety solutions (APSS), protocols based on evidence that hospitals can adopt to improve safety in a wide range of high -risk areas, opioid safety and septicemia management to maternal and neonatal care. The PSMF also promotes the commitment of open data, encouraging health technology companies to share data that can clarify and eliminate risks.

Its impact is palpable: thanks to its initiatives to create coalition and education, the PSMF has contributed to catalyze the improvements of the real world in hundreds of health establishments worldwide.

Security as human right, not a privilege

Basically, patient safety is not a technical objective – it is a moral imperative. Health care should be as safe as flying on an airplane or driving a car, and yet we have accepted much greater risks in our hospitals than we would never do it in our sky or our streets.

We must reframe patient safety not as a complementary module or afterwards, but as a non -negotiable pillar of quality care. This requires investments, leadership and cultural change – not only health establishments but regulators, insurers and governments. And this obliges patients and families to have a seat at the table, authorized to speak without fear of judgment or dismissal.

The long -term path

There is no miracle solution, but there is a clear path. We know what works: transparency, communication, systems thought and responsibility. We know that when health professionals are supported instead of being blamed, when the data is shared instead of the fence and when patients are heard instead of being ignored, lives are saved.

In a world that spends billions of billions for medical innovation, we owe ourselves – and to each patient who enters a hospital hoping for healing – to make security our most urgent priority.

As the patient Safety Movement Foundation reminds us: each patient deserves safe care each time. Nothing less should be acceptable.