The world of healthcare seems to get more idealized every day. With the advent of Pay-For-Performance and Value-Based Purchasing, ever increasing import is placed upon quality and patient safety. Of course, no one would argue that this is a bad thing. Risk management, however, is a discipline dedicated to the identification of unintended consequences, and risk managers will find those consequences in the most unlikely of places; even in the noble quest for zero errors.
As we seek to reduce errors, improve patient safety, and increase quality, we must take care not to stigmatize the human process of making mistakes. It is a difficult truth - as long as humans practice medicine, there will be mistakes. And as long as there are mistakes, risk managers must be available to support, guide, and protect providers to the best of our ability. History has taught us that this is impossible unless providers feel free to reach out and request that assistance. Providers who have been indoctrinated with the notion that no errors are acceptable may be unwilling to do so.
As healthcare continues to evolve, we must take care to balance the ideal with the realistic. We must find a way to maintain our goals without alienating our humanism.True, we should never cease to seek the summit of perfection; and when lives are at stake we cannot accept the substandard. But we must recognize that mistakes are not simply costly, they also have value. We cannot afford to recreate a culture where mistakes are not illuminated, analyzed, and shared as tools for learning and growing, but are instead hidden away in shame and fear. We must remain vigilant so that the race to "zero" is a sprint to the top rather than a retreat into the shadows.
(Please note that the opinions expressed here are the opinions of the author and are not representative of any other person or entity.)