Patient Safety and the USA Healthcare System Essay

Patient Safety and the USA Healthcare System - Essay Example USA healthcare system has not been efficient in handling the safety of patients. This is because it has encountered various challenges identified by experts. One of the challenges is wrong-site surgery. This occurs when an operation is done on the wrong part of the body. Even though it is rare and preventable it still occurs in the current hospitals. It is apparent that from the year 1995 to 2010 about 956 wrong-site incidents were reported to the Joint Commission. A medication error is another challenge evident in the America health care system. It is apparent when the patients receive the wrong medication or when the wrong dosage is given to a patient. A report by the Institute of Medication in 2006 showed that estimates of 1.5 million Americans each year are harmed by medical errors. This has resulted in an extra medical cost of $3.5 billion (Pauley & Joseph, 2012).Health care-acquired infection is another challenge that the America health care is facing though at a minimal level. The challenge occurs when a person gets an infection while being treated. It is apparent that 1 out of 20 patients hospitalized in United States contract health care acquire infections. At the end, the patient spends more time in the hospital and takes longer recovery time. Falls are other causes of injuries in the health care settings and the outside environment. Research has shown that about 500,000 falls happen each year in Americans hospitals resulting to 150,000 injuries (Savage & Ford, 2008).