First Do No Harm: Increasing Patient Safety

PATIENT SAFETY is at the heart of healthcare. The Hippocratic Oath — First, Do No Harm — has been in existence since 400 BC. Yet, while medical professionals undoubtedly have patients’ best interests in mind, healthcare systems are run by humans who are not infallible, and today, healthcare diagnostics and content are more frequently being generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) that has the potential to increase security risks and the spread of health misinformation. As such, it’s imperative to put in place systems and regulations to reduce patient harm.

Despite the best intentions, medical errors, adverse events and negligence still happen, all of which result in patient harm. And, according to the World Health Organization, since most mistakes are made by a confluence of factors, it’s important to shift the responsibility for these errors from blame to shared responsibility, especially in the primary care setting. In our article “Improving Patient Safety in the Primary Care Setting” (p.20), several roadblocks exist to establishing a systems approach to patient safety in primary care. But, by following eight National Patient Safety Goals and five key tips to improve patient care, it is possible to reduce patient harm.

With the advent of AI, patient safety is taking on a whole new dimension. There is no arguing how AI can positively impact the healthcare industry in terms of diagnostics and administrative functions. However, AI is also being used to generate healthcare content, often leading to the spread of misinformation. And, unfortunately, there are currently only  small pieces of AI regulations in place created by various entities. But, as we explain in our article “Mitigating AI Risks for Consumer Health Information” (p.26), these entities are now working together to develop overarching plans to mitigate the risks. These include new strategies for countering the capture and use of erroneous data and flagging AI-generated content. But, perhaps the most effective way misinformation generated by AI can be curtailed is by healthcare professionals engaging with their patients by encouraging them to assess the credibility of content; not engaging misinformation by correcting it online, which can further increase the content’s visibility; increasing their social media presence; and importantly, listening to and empathizing with their patients.

An often overlooked part of patient safety in healthcare is clinical trials — not the safety of the trials themselves, necessarily, but the ability to complete trials so drugs can be brought to market to treat and cure patients. It may be surprising, but the primary cause of trial delays is failure to meet the initial enrollment target and timeline. In our article “Solving Clinical Trial Delays by Accelerating Patient Recruitment” (p.30), we discuss how software developers have begun partnering with pharmaceutical manufacturers to help them meet their patient recruitment goals by developing programs, some of which use AI algorithms. We highlight three of these companies that have, to date, achieved remarkable success, with the hope of potentially getting more drugs to patients in a timely manner. 

As always, we hope you enjoy the additional articles in this issue of BioSupply Trends Quarterly, and find them both relevant and helpful to your practice. 

Helping Healthcare Care,

Patrick M. Schmidt

Publisher