Patient Experience in Latin America: Challenges and Opportunities to Ensure Safety

Healthcare is an essential part of our lives, aimed at preventing diseases, treating conditions, and improving our quality of life. However, in this noble effort to care for our health, healthcare systems can sometimes make errors that result in harm to patients. These errors not only cause physical and emotional suffering but also negatively impact people's trust in the healthcare system. In Latin America and around the world, patient safety has become a critical issue requiring urgent attention. In this blog, we will explore the current landscape of patient safety in Latin America, addressing common challenges and the solutions that organisations can implement to ensure optimal care.

Where Are We in Latin America?

Patient safety is a topic that cannot be overlooked. Harm to patients occurs even in advanced healthcare systems due to increasing complexity and the possibility of human errors. Process errors, lack of communication, and the absence of active patient involvement can be underlying factors in these issues. It is crucial to recognize that solely blaming the active provider does not address latent system errors. Instead of expecting individual perfection, it is necessary to create a safe environment with well-designed systems. This is where a shared and transparent safety culture comes into play, an essential component for preventing and improving healthcare errors.

Patient Safety: What Does It Mean?

Patient safety is not just an abstract concept but a concrete focus in healthcare. As healthcare systems become more complex, the likelihood of risks and errors associated with healthcare increases. The purpose of patient safety is simple yet fundamental: to prevent and reduce hazards, errors, and harm that patients may face during their healthcare. The foundation of this initiative is continuous learning from mistakes and adverse events to continuously improve and evolve.

Latin America: Confronting the Burden of Healthcare-Related Harm

Millions of patients in Latin America experience harm or even die due to unsafe healthcare. The situation is alarming, with examples including medication errors, healthcare-associated infections, and risky surgical procedures. Unsafe practices such as unsafe injections and misdiagnoses contribute to this burden. These problems not only jeopardize patient safety but also affect the overall quality of healthcare in the region.

The Data Speaks for itself 

• Medication errors result in an annual cost of approximately $42 billion worldwide. Healthcare-associated infections affect 7-10% of hospitalised patients. 

• Up to 25% of surgical patients experience complications, with one million surgical patients dying annually. 

• Unsafe injection practices lead to 9.2 million years of disability-adjusted life lost. 

• Diagnostic errors affect 5% of adults in outpatient care, with more than half of them potentially causing serious harm. 

• Errors in radiation and septicemia cause preventable harm and deaths.

• Venous thromboembolism is responsible for common and preventable harm.

Sources: WHO, IBEAS Study, IBEAS, OPS

Transformative Technology: Improving Patient Safety

In the digital age, technology plays a crucial role in healthcare improvement. Implementing patient safety and quality systems can make a difference. Through specialised software, effective audits can be conducted, and accreditations of high standards like those of the Joint Commission International (JCI) can be tracked. These systems not only monitor quality but also identify areas for improvement and prevent future incidents.

MEG: Offering Solutions

Through MEG, we present effective solutions to address common challenges in patient safety in the medical field:

1. Medication Management: We offer the Antibiotic Administration Survey to address common errors in medication administration.

2. Surgical Errors: To prevent surgical errors, responsible for 10% of preventable harm, we provide efficient access to the World Health Organization's Surgical Safety Checklist, available digitally in the context of Safe Surgery for Latin America and Spain.

3. Healthcare-Associated Infections: In response to healthcare-associated infections, accounting for 0.14% of cases, we implement measures to reduce antibiotic resistance and control infections in the medical field.

4. Sepsis: Sepsis is a critical concern, with approximately 23.6% of cases occurring in hospitals. We offer specialized audits in infection prevention and control to address this issue.

Looking to the Future

The data confirms that patient safety is a critical priority in Latin America and globally. Preventing and reducing adverse events in healthcare is possible through effective strategies and global collaboration. Our ultimate goal is to ensure that every patient receives safe and high-quality care. Through awareness, a focus on vulnerable groups, robust health policies, a safety culture, and ongoing research, we can move towards a future where patient safety is constant. The adoption of advanced technologies, such as audit and tracking software, will be crucial for continuously improving the quality and safety of care provided. Ultimately, we all play an important role in this process, from healthcare professionals to informed patients, collaborating to achieve optimal and safe care for patients.

From Chaos to Clarity: Simplifying Document Management for Healthcare with MEG Docs

This blog post is the third in the series "Healthcare Document Management Systems: Everything You Need To Know" — a comprehensive guide where we discuss the importance of document management in healthcare, the benefits of a modern solution, must-have features, compare different solutions on the market, and more.

Check out the previous blogs here:

#1 Does Your Organisation Need a Digital Healthcare Document Management System?

#2 7 Essential Features of A Healthcare Document Management Software

This piece is a deep dive into MEG's Document Management System for healthcare — MEG Docs. We'll discuss some of the key features and functionalities of the software, what makes it different from other solutions on the market, and how it can simplify document management within your organisation.

The Art of Simplified Document Management

A healthcare document management system should be more than just a digital filing cabinet where documents languish forgotten. It should be a holistic solution capable of simplifying the complex landscape of policy management into a simple, organised, and easy-to-access system.

The right software will help healthcare professionals navigate the intricacies of healthcare documentation, ensuring that critical information is always at their fingertips. It's not just about reducing paperwork; it's about streamlining and simplifying processes, enhancing efficiency, improving patient care, and ensuring compliance with evolving regulations.

MEG's Document Management System for Healthcare

Specifically designed keeping the needs of healthcare organisations and providers in mind, MEG Docs is a comprehensive document management tool with the following key features:

1. Accessibility

"Access anytime, anywhere" is the guiding principle that MEG Docs stands by, and here's what we mean:

• Staff can seamlessly access the platform from any device — whether that's a desktop, laptop, or smartphone — ensuring they always have instant access to critical policies and documents, even while on the move.

• Staff can use MEG Docs both online and offline, eliminating concerns about losing access in areas with unreliable or poor connectivity. And it's not limited to textual documents; you can also retrieve tables, images, and 'how-to videos' when offline, making it a comprehensive resource at your fingertips.

2. Searchability

Research indicates that, on average, staff spend 18 minutes searching for a document. This leads to a substantial productivity loss of 21%.

MEG Docs efficiently eliminates this through its intuitive interface, powerful search capabilities, and simplified folder system. When storing documents, administrators have full freedom to create and name folders according to their preference, and can even nest folders within others. The Document Management dashboard provides a bird's eye view of the folders, making access a breeze.

But that's not all.

MEG's search function allows staff to quickly find specific documents using keywords, phrases, document type, name, date, author, or category. You can also bookmark location shortcuts of frequently used or important sections within documents.

This feature significantly reduces the time spent on manual folder navigation or sifting through extensive policy lists. And because users can find the information they need within minutes, they are more likely to use the system, ultimately boosting user adoption.

““MEG’s Document Management tool is amazing, along with their passion to make this product as client-friendly as possible. Totally appreciate how they receive feedback from clients to fine-tune things on MEG and always look at bettering the best!””

— Kavitha Mohandas, Director of Health Services, Neuro Spinal Hospital, Dubai

3. Version Control

According to research, as much as 83% of staff struggle with version issues daily. And given the complexity of healthcare documentation, managing policies and procedures often involves multiple revisions. Here's how MEG's version control feature empowers organisations to stay on top of all document modifications:

• Gain access to a detailed log that records the nature of changes or updates made, when, by whom, and which version of the document was affected by the action.

• Obtain historical insights into the evolution of a particular policy over time.

• Stay in the know with real-time notifications delivered across all your devices whenever policies or documents are updated. This ensures you're always working with the most current and up-to-date version. You can also use the checkbox property to acknowledge and track which staff have read and understood new content.

• View document modifications effortlessly with the side-by-side feature, enabling you to compare two documents to understand the changes made.

• Archive outdated documents systematically, allowing for effortless retrieval when the need arises.

4. Policy Review and Approval

Recognising the collaborative nature of healthcare policy development and management, MEG Docs provides an array of collaborative tools to enable multiple individuals or teams to work together on policy creation, review, approval, and updates. These include the ability to:

• Assign reviewers and approvers to policies and set up follow-up workflows for smooth collaboration.

• Add comments, annotations, and notes to specific sections of the document, streamlining the feedback process.

• Notify relevant team members when changes are made, new versions are uploaded, or approvals are required, ensuring timely awareness and response.

5. Security

Document management systems for healthcare must have robust security measures in place, given the highly sensitive nature of healthcare data. Here's how MEG Docs ensures that your organisational data is safe and secure:

• Role-based access controls based on designations, teams, and departments to regulate who can view, modify, and interact with policy documents.

• Strong authentication methods, such as multi-factor authentication (MFA), so only authorised personnel can access documents.

• Regular backups and a robust disaster recovery plan to ensure uninterrupted access to critical documents.

• Leveraging cloud storage to eliminate the need for on-premise hardware and mitigating the risks associated with hardware failures, in turn, ensuring data security.

• Regular security updates to prevent vulnerabilities from being exploited.

6. Integration

Document management systems for healthcare must be able to connect and exchange data with other applications and systems that are used within an organisation to enable a seamless flow of information and eliminate data silos.

MEG Docs allows you to efficiently transition between policies, audit reports, incident forms, and training materials, placing relevant documents, videos, and web resources at your fingertips. You can easily link policy documents to audits, incidents, training logs, and patient surveys, ensuring that the right resources reach the right healthcare personnel and wards.

You can also integrate your document management and auditing systems to empower staff to quickly reference policies and guidelines for compliance assessments, action planning, and quality enhancement. This proactive approach improves patient safety and elevates the quality of care delivered.

Keen to see MEG Docs in action? Schedule a demo now!

Engaging Patients for Patient Safety: An Interview with Helen Hughes, Chief Executive at Patient Safety Learning

Every year, on 17th September, World Patient Safety Day is celebrated. This year, we've put together a special series of interviews to honour Patient Safety Month, where we gather insights from leading experts in the field of patient safety and quality management.

This year's theme for Patient Safety Day is ‘Engaging Patients for Patient Safety’. So it’s only fitting to interview Helen Hughes, the Chief Executive at Patient Safety Learning — a charity and independent voice for improving patient safety.

Helen has previously held leadership roles in healthcare in the UK and the WHO, the National Patient Safety Agency, Equality and Human Rights Commission, and the Charity Commission. She was also pivotal in designing the first patient safety infrastructure and policy framework for the NHS in England. At the WHO, she held a range of roles, including partnership and patient safety programme management and executive lead of the global ‘Patients For Patient Safety’ programme.

Here are some valuable insights she shared with us.

What is the mission of Patient Safety Learning? How does the organisation contribute to improving patient safety and quality in healthcare?

Patient Safety Learning is a charitable organisation established over five years ago. We identified a unique opportunity to serve as an independent voice, advocating for patient safety within the broader safety system response.

Can patient engagement improve safety? How can patients become more active partners in their own safety during medical treatments and procedures?

At Patient Safety Learning, we've created a report called 'A Blueprint for Action', which proposes practical actions to address the foundational aspects of providing safer patient care based on systemic analysis and evidence. These foundations are:

• Shared learning

• Professionalising patient safety

• Leadership

• Patient engagement

• Data and insight

• Culture

One of the fundamentals, patient engagement, which, when done at four distinct points, can immensely improve patient safety.

1. At the Point of Care: Patients should be an equal partner in their care plan, equipped with all the information required for informed consent, including their treatment plan and potential risks. Furthermore, they should feel comfortable voicing concerns and escalating issues if necessary.

2. When Things Go Wrong: The UK sees over 11,000 avoidable deaths each year due to unsafe care, with higher post-pandemic numbers despite the best endeavours. Involving patients and their families, especially when errors occur, through the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) promotes transparency, holds organisations accountable, and gathers their perspectives and insights to inform investigations.

3. Improvement Planning and Implementation: When contributing factors to unsafe care are identified, patients and their families must not be merely consulted after improvement solutions are developed but actively participate in designing them from the outset.

4. Patient Families and Carers as Advocates: Patient families and carers, through patient advocacy groups and organisations, are pivotal in holding the healthcare system accountable for delivering safe and healthy care.

So, patient engagement and involvement at these four levels are key to building the bedrock of safer healthcare practices and outcomes.

How will the new LFPSE service impact patient engagement and safety?

LFPSE has replaced the previous National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS), which I was a part of designing over 20 years ago. The NRLS has outlived its usefulness in many factors, especially around the technology, so the LFPSE is a much-welcomed change.

However, one objective set over two decades ago that remains unrealised is the inclusion of patient reporting in incident systems. While there are some initiatives for reporting medical device and medication errors, they aren't as well known as they need to be.

So, nobody has really cracked how to effectively broaden the perspective and incorporate the patient's viewpoint regarding incidents and harm. This is what the LFPSE team at NHS England has now initiated.

I think this is a significant opportunity to integrate the voices and insights of patients more explicitly into incident reporting and analysis, so organisations can better understand their concerns. It's very early days, but it's still promising.

As the leader of a patient safety organisation, what do you see as the role of leadership in promoting a culture of safety within a healthcare organisation?

I think organisational culture and leadership play a significant role in patient safety. The question is, 'How do leaders identify the challenges within their organisations, and how do they personally take that leadership role for safety improvement?'.

When looking at executive leadership, everyone is responsible for patient safety — whether they're in a clinical or non-clinical role. To make the healthcare system as safe as possible, executive teams must own patient safety as a core purpose.

As part of our initiative to professionalise patient safety, we've taken the six foundational elements mentioned earlier and created an organisational and systems standard framework to define 'what good looks like'. For example, you'd have a clear safety strategy, or you'd have clear targets and goals for what you want to achieve.

And then, you'd gather data, not just from incident reporting systems but from staff feedback, patient feedback, complaints, etc., and understand your organisation's strengths and weaknesses to assess where you are against good or best practice. This allows you to have a clear knowledge base about your risks and issues and then identify what you need to do to address those.

What are some key performance indicators or metrics that healthcare organisations should consider to assess their patient safety efforts?

Patient Safety Learning's the hub has a large repository of free resources to provide knowledge and identify gaps in the patient safety space. In my view, one such gap is about understanding the impact of patient safety improvements and the compelling business case for prioritising patient safety.

It's about evaluating how safety initiatives influence patient outcomes, whether that's leading to a tangible reduction in harm or mitigating the financial costs associated with unsafe care. Within the UK, the Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) have spearheaded some safety improvement initiatives that show a demonstrable impact on enhancing safety standards. And that's where we really need to go.

There isn't, as yet, a straightforward dashboard for proven safety improvement. However, a number of digital health companies that provide incident reporting software are expanding into this area, pulling together data from several sources within a trust into a patient safety dashboard, and that's quite an exciting initiative.

How can healthcare organisations encourage open reporting?

Frontline staff today are under immense pressure and often find themselves overwhelmed. So, there's a real risk that incident reporting can be perceived as an additional burden on top of their daily responsibilities.

That's why it's important that when people report incidents, their efforts are met with meaningful feedback. It goes beyond a mere formality; it signifies the recognition that their insights actively contribute to shaping safety improvement strategies. It also breaks down the cultural barriers that often discourage reporting by demonstrating that reported insights lead to tangible improvements. This leads to a culture of stronger reporting because it reinforces the understanding that the staff's input plays an important role in identifying risks and driving positive change.

What emerging trends or innovations do you foresee significantly impacting quality and patient safety in healthcare?

There are digital products and innovations that have significant potential in making care safer and more cost-effective. However, there are also some real barriers to those innovations being implemented. For instance, healthcare providers may be unaware of these advancements, or they may be slightly more expensive than current practices, especially when organisations are cash-strapped.

But if these innovations can lead to substantial reductions in harm, then they offer a valuable trade-off. In the context of acute care, for example, 60% of surgical site infections are preventable. So, if an innovation or product can reduce this rate, there is a compelling investment case.

Check out Patient Safety Learning’s platform to share learning for patient safety, the hub here.