Knowing that a patient is alive or dead seems like it should be trivial. But, as it turns out, in our modern balkanized healthcare system, it can actually be quite difficult. And not knowing the vital status of a patient can have major consequences.
Health systems send messages to their patients all the time. Reminders of appointments, reminders for preventative care, reminders for vaccinations, and so on.
But what if the patient being reminded has died? It’s a waste of resources of course - but more than that it can be painful for their families and reflects really poorly on the healthcare system itself. Of all people that should know whether someone is alive or dead, shouldn’t their doctor be at the top of the list?
A new study in JAMA Internal Medicine quantifies this very phenomenon.
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