Here’s one more reason why physician practices and hospitals must make it a goal to improve communications: new research shows poor communication has a body count of more than 1,700.
Communication problems were a contributing factor in 7,149 cases (30 percent) of 23,000 medical malpractice claims filed between 2009 and 2013, according to the report, published by research/analysis firm CRICO Strategies. That percentage includes 1,744 deaths and $1.7 billion in hospital costs, the report found. In addition, 37 percent of all high-severity injury cases involved communication failures.
