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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Excellent, as a healthcare provider I related viscerally so much to this author and book. I think it’s an important read for any consumer (read: all of us) of American medicine to understand just how easy it is to make medical error, and understand how to best prevent it in your own care. The case studies, especially of Jay, were gripping, informative, shocking and heartbreaking. This book will certainly change how I approach my practice and how I approach my own healthcare.
challenging
informative
slow-paced
slow-paced
informative
medium-paced
I'm fortunate that in my thirtysomething years on this planet I haven't required anything more serious than some antibiotics for strep, and the only time I've gone under the knife was for elective cosmetic surgery. My husband, likewise, is healthy as a horse (knock on all available wood). So I approached this book very much as an outsider with a general interest in, well, generally all things, and the premise sounded interesting. I was extremely surprised at how much I walked away with from this book, even having no ongoing medical conditions myself.
The book is structured in such a way that the author's points are mixed in with actual cases and examples emphasizing what she finds important. There's also two larger cases that span a good chunk of the book, one involving a patient named Jay and the other a burn victim named Glenn, that she uses to drive home points all throughout the book. I really liked this approach, and also appreciated the fact that everything was easy to understand and approachable.
The premise can be a little scary for some people, that mistakes can happen, but people are people and this is very hard to overcome. The author goes to great lengths explaining all the safeguards and thought processes in place to prevent mistakes from happening, and then also discusses all the ways these can be bypassed in the name of expedited care and overworked staff. The specific mistakes involved in the two larger cases (Jay's and Glenn's) are outlined at the very end of the book, and the author discusses how these mistakes and others can be avoided by the medical industry. Chapter 16 especially was good to read, as the author discusses what a patient can do to protect themselves, and also provides various resources to reach out to if negligent treatment is suspected.
All in all I enjoyed this book a ton and walked away with some valuable information that I'll hopefully carry with me as my husband and I get older.
The book is structured in such a way that the author's points are mixed in with actual cases and examples emphasizing what she finds important. There's also two larger cases that span a good chunk of the book, one involving a patient named Jay and the other a burn victim named Glenn, that she uses to drive home points all throughout the book. I really liked this approach, and also appreciated the fact that everything was easy to understand and approachable.
The premise can be a little scary for some people, that mistakes can happen, but people are people and this is very hard to overcome. The author goes to great lengths explaining all the safeguards and thought processes in place to prevent mistakes from happening, and then also discusses all the ways these can be bypassed in the name of expedited care and overworked staff. The specific mistakes involved in the two larger cases (Jay's and Glenn's) are outlined at the very end of the book, and the author discusses how these mistakes and others can be avoided by the medical industry. Chapter 16 especially was good to read, as the author discusses what a patient can do to protect themselves, and also provides various resources to reach out to if negligent treatment is suspected.
All in all I enjoyed this book a ton and walked away with some valuable information that I'll hopefully carry with me as my husband and I get older.
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
slow-paced
This book is good but really only interesting to medical professionals. Overall, good writing and very informative.
The basic question addressed in this book is whether medical error is as prevalent as is often reported and such a high cause of death. The statistic itself appears controversial as it’s not universally accepted as, say, heart failure or cancer as leading causes of fatality. The author, who is also a medical doctor, takes the reader through two rather heart wrenching cases, one of which was the husband of an ER nurse in which he received substandard care that ultimately wound up in a long medical malpractice suit. Ofri does a good job balancing the human and scientific side of the debate, calling out the over reliance on filling out checkboxes and ENR’s and is open to allowing more technology to enter into practice to counterbalance potential sources of doctor error.
challenging
informative
reflective