Adverse Events

In almost all cases, the patient’s perspective is irrelevant as to whether or not an adverse event has occurred. If the patient is aware that a medical mistake was made, it would (of course) be an adverse event. If they were rendered unconscious or killed by the mistake (and therefore unaware of it), it would still be an adverse event. The point is, all medical mistakes are adverse events. Furthermore, if a mistake was made that did not harm the patient in any way, it would still be an adverse event because breakdowns of protocol in the medical industry are always unacceptable and need to be corrected—regardless if the patient was aware of the mistake or not.

There are, however, some cases when the patient’s perspective does affect whether or not an event is considered adverse. In the case of plastic surgery (which is highly subjective), a patient’s outcome may not be what they had envisioned. While the surgeon may think he or she did a great job, the patient might still consider it an adverse event (and try to litigate). Conversely, a plastic surgeon may make a mistake during a breast augmentation (putting in “c” cup implants instead of “b” cup, for example) and the patient ends up happier with the larger size. While the patient does not perceive an adverse event has occurred, a mistake was made and should still be considered adverse by the medical staff.

Once again...in the medical field, all mistakes should be considered adverse events. As future health care executives, we need to take the proper steps and create safeguards that prevent mistakes—keeping adverse events from happening in the first place.