Best Ways To Ensure Patient Safety In A Private Medical Practice

Setting up a medical practice is a good way to bring accessible healthcare services to a local area. Once you’ve secured a medical degree, you can pitch in to improve medicinal opportunities, offering your expertise to those who really need it. 

But within this, you’ve got to ensure patient safety while they’re on site. And not just them – their private data too! And there’s quite a few ways for private medical practices to assure any and all who walk through their doors; check them out below. 

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Double Check Your Insurance Policy

Insurance for medical businesses can vary, so always double check the terms of the policy before you sign off on one. It’s also likely you’ll need more than one policy; for example, you’ll want to look into commercial insurance, but you should also consider medical malpractice insurance to cover you in case of an accident or a long term patient complaint. 

And if you use a digital system to protect patient details, you should also think about insurance to cover you in case of a cyber attack. 

Invest in Quality Glove Material

The gloves you use in your medical practice are going to set the scene for your entire safety policy at large. So it’s best to invest in the highest quality gloves you can, as well as other PPE materials and equipment. For example, bulk nitrile gloves are a lot hardier than their latex counterparts, and both patients and practitioners with a latex allergy will be able to use them. 

When you’re working with quality materials, issues like cross contamination and blood infections become a lot less of a worry – though you should still maintain a strict hygiene policy to prevent them. 

Institute a Complaints Procedure

Your patients need to know that they can complain to you. They need to know that you take their problem seriously, no matter what nature they are. So have a complaints procedure in place from the moment you open your doors. Ensure any new hires are trained in the procedure, whether they’re just working the reception desk or they’re performing medical care of any kind. The more they know about the legal side of things, the more they’ll be able to protect both themselves and the patients in the moment. 

Protect Your Digital Systems

It’s not just a digital insurance policy you should think about. You’re going to need to run stringent safety procedures on your network and any devices connected to it. An employee’s phone, that’s connected to the workplace wifi, could be a data leak if they’re hacked outside of working hours. Consistently update your passwords, use a strong anti virus and anti malware, and always double check who is connected and when. One leak could spell disaster. 

Patient safety is always going to be a top concern for medical businesses. However, when you’re running a private practice, it’s up to you to deliver the best care and attention to anyone who walks through your door.