Years ago as a blogger, physicians and a few other clinicians found me and shared their books. Today, patients and their caregivers find me. Not in Vain is a daughter's advocacy in honor of her mother and her experience with a cancer diagnosis. It is raw and provides insight into the fear, failures, near misses, medical errors, and frustrations that patients and their caregivers experience in the healthcare ecosystem. Doctors and hospitals can learn from books like this and incorporate the insight into their own performance and quality improvement activities.
I remember reviewing charts for hospital quality and safety activities and every now and then there might be a letter from a patient or notes written by staff that share this important stakeholder's experience. But with today's ease of self-publishing, blog posts and social media, patients and their family caregivers have tools that can help them amplify their voice.
Healthcare is complex and imperfect. Medicine is not an exact science (it is an art, too) and we humans all make mistakes. But there is a great deal we can do to truly continuously improve the quality of care patients receive. It starts by opening our minds and being willing to hear the stories. Then, we can ask questions in our own organization to identify new opportunities to improve.
In the book, the stories of "what else could it be", "were they really listening", "did the medical provider's behavior convince you that they were interested in your case" really hit home for me. And, the documentation and communication stories add even more evidence to what we already know about why patients or their loved ones file lawsuits against their providers.
This book is raw with feelings and frustrations. However, it also recognizes that healthcare professionals are mostly good people who work in a "lousy system". While lousy is more than I would admit, it is an imperfect system... mostly because of the humans, the art and science of medicine and the thought that medicine and healthcare are ever evolving. Will there ever be a perfect healthcare ecosystem? Probably not in my lifetime, or that of my children. But, there is a great deal we can do to improve the quality and safety of the care we provide. It starts by listening to those who are advocating for themselves or others.
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