Clinical guidelines sought to reduce malpractice<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Experts have called for standardized national clinical guidelines
\nin an effort to reduce the number of cases of malpractice as well
\nas to keep medical practitioners updated with the latest medical
\ndevelopments.<\/p>\n
\"Right now we have to follow different sets of procedures when
\nwe want to practice in different cities,\" a fresh medical
\ngraduate of Airlangga University, Linda Astari, said on Saturday.<\/p>\n
She explained that each public hospital in every city had
\ntheir own procedures in handling different clinical situations.<\/p>\n
\"If I practice at Dr. Soetomo General Hospital (in Surabaya,
\nEast Java), I have to follow their local procedures,\" she said.
\n\"It will be another set of rules in Malang, for example.\"<\/p>\n
Linda suggested that a national guideline would help doctors,
\nespecially new ones like her, to have a single reference to deal
\nwith clinical cases. She admitted, though, that it would be a
\ndaunting task to reach a national consensus.<\/p>\n
Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) are systematic procedures
\nbased on best evidence that assist practitioners and patients in
\nmaking decisions about appropriate health care.<\/p>\n
\"CPG can assist even busy clinicians to make clinical
\njudgments that will adapt to patients' conditions, circumstances
\nand choice of treatment and reduce malpractice,\" Malaysian
\nMinistry of Health health technology assessment unit head S.
\nSivalal said in a national health seminar in Jakarta on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Sivalal explained that the use of CPG would reduce variation
\nin the quality of health care delivery, replace unproven methods
\nwith proven ones as well as help achieve maximum cost benefit.<\/p>\n
Malaysia has developed its CPG, although it has yet to make it
\nmandatory. Several developed countries, such as the United
\nKingdom, France and Germany, have made the procedure obligatory
\nfor all medical practitioners.<\/p>\n
To date, Malaysia has developed specific CPGs on childhood
\nimmunization, rational utilization of antibiotics, management of
\ndiabetes, obesity as well as dengue fever in children.<\/p>\n
The guidelines are formulated through a mechanism of defining
\na specific issue, retrieving and critically appraising relevant
\nliterature and analyzing evidence (cases) to develop patient-
\noriented guidelines.<\/p>\n
\"CPG should be patient-oriented instead of disease-oriented,\"
\nhe said. Guidelines taken from different agencies should be taken
\ninto consideration in addition to local epidemiological data,
\nclinical patterns as well as cost.<\/p>\n
Documentation of guidelines has been found as far back as
\nancient Egypt and Greece, he added.<\/p>\n
Sadly, Indonesia has yet to formulate standards -- moreover
\nlegally binding ones -- of medical and hospital services or a
\nprofessional code of conduct, Indonesian Health Consumer
\nEmpowerment Foundation chairman Marius Widjajarta told The
\nJakarta Post.<\/p>\n
\"The drafting of government regulations on such standards
\nstarted nine years ago, but we have not seen any of it enacted
\ninto law,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Marius pointed out that with clear legal standards, both
\npatients and medical practitioners would benefit as there would
\nbe a publicly known definition of malpractice, accidents and
\nnegligence.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian medical service is annually confronted with
\nthousands of complaints which are difficult to define as
\nmalpractice or accidents, he said.<\/p>\n
The fact that the quality of medical services is being
\nquestioned in the country is leading to a loss of confidence in
\ndomestic health care.<\/p>\n
Singapore recorded up to 40 percent of some 200,000 foreign
\npatients in 2002 from Indonesia, while, the Malaysian Tourism
\nBoard recorded that 45,503 Indonesian patients had chosen
\nhospitals in the neighboring country in 2004.<\/p>\n
\"It should be this government's commitment to pass the draft
\nof the standards into legally binding regulations if we want to
\nkeep up with the quality of medical services of our neighboring
\ncountries,\" Marius said.(003)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/clinical-guidelines-sought-to-reduce-malpractice-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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