By Laura M. Cascella, MA Providing coordinated, competent patient care involves precision at many points in the clinical process, but particularly in sending and receiving information. Yet, “the increasingly complex healthcare environment can complicate the communication process and hinder the information exchanges necessary for optimum care.”1 Communication breakdowns in healthcare are not uncommon, and they

By Laura M. Cascella, MA The term “medical error” often conjures thoughts of wrong site surgeries, procedures performed on the wrong patients, foreign objects left inside patients, medication mistakes, and other serious mishaps. Although these errors certainly deserve attention, the visibility surrounding them can easily overshadow common, but less sensational lapses. Diagnostic errors, for example,