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A Millionaire’s Mission: Stop Hospitals from Killing their Patients by Medical Error
Article

A Millionaire’s Mission: Stop Hospitals from Killing their Patients by Medical Error

Usha Lee McFarling
STAT, 2017
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Scientific
  • Applicable
  • Inspiring

Recommendation

Science writer Usha Lee McFarling introduces Joe Kiani, the good-guy millionaire whose engineering solutions are making patients in hospitals safer. Far from merely praising Kiani, McFarling also reports on what his detractors and rivals have to say. Kiani pays politicians a lot of money to come to his annual summits, but he also has the grudging respect of many of his business rivals. Kiani comes across as highly persuasive, but for a good cause. It’s an encouraging story of technology with the potential to save many lives. getAbstract recommends this article to anyone with an interest in patient safety.

Summary

 

About 100,000 patients in the United States die annually from medical errors, a 1999 Institute of Medicine report found. Some researchers think the number could now be four times higher. Monitoring devices bombard medical staff with noises until they become too distracting and someone hits the mute button, but then real problems go unnoticed. Millionaire engineer Joe Kiani wants devices to communicate with each other to help prevent avoidable deaths. To do this, manufacturers need to open their computer code and share their data.

Kiani immigrated to the United States...

About the Author

 Usha Lee McFarling is the West Coast correspondent for STAT News, a science writer and a Pulitzer Prize–winner. 

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