Medical safety net

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Doctors, even the best of the best, don't always have the right prescription the first time around.

It's up to patients to make sure their doctors are doing everything within reason to ensure their good health. Mistakes happen, but they happen less often when both doctor and patient work in tandem.

The medical field is trying to stem the tide of what's known as system errors. In 1997, the American Medical Association created the National Patient Safety Foundation toward that end, and in December 2004 it partnered with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement with the goal of saving 100,000 lives that might otherwise be lost by medical errors through June 2006.

Dr. Nancy Nielsen, speaker of the American Medical Association's house of delegates, wants to make it clear "nobody makes mistakes as a choice."

Dr. Nielsen says the complications inherent in medical care, from prescribing medications to assigning treatments, can be fraught with educated guesses.

The simple act of picking up a medication can cause problems if something goes awry.

Take medications with similar-sounding names, like Xanax, used as a tranquilizer, and Zantac, prescribed to battle stomach acid. One of Dr. Nielsen's patients once got Xanax instead of Zantac at the local pharmacy and had the wherewithal to double-check with her before taking it.

"Everybody worries about lookalike or sound-alike drugs," she says.

Patients also need to keep tabs on any test results promised by their doctors.

Most doctor's offices insist the physician in charge signs off on test results to make sure important information isn't overlooked, Dr. Nielsen says. Still, no system is foolproof. She suggests patients check back with the doctor via e-mail to avoid being put on hold indefinitely.