The number is 1-800-MEDICARE (800-633-4227). It only applies if the patient is on Medicare, but it also works for protests of discharge from nursing homes too. The operator will send you on to your local Medicare QIO — Quality Improvement Organization, a little-known patient safety organization that has power to investigate and reverse dangerous decisions….
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A Life-Saving Number: The Nurse-to-Patient Ratio
The greatest fear for any patient in the hospital, and the biggest nightmare for their families, is that something will go wrong suddenly and no one will respond until it’s too late. Beeping monitors are no help if their alarms go unheeded. Patient safety experts know that one basic way to keep patients safe and….
Continue ReadingMalpractice Suit Exposes “Ghost Surgery” at the Cleveland Clinic
Sometimes patients sign up for surgery with an experienced surgeon who then allows a doctor in training, with far less experience, to do the actual surgery. If this hasn’t been disclosed up front by the surgeon and agreed to by the patient, the switcheroo is called “ghost surgery,” and it’s not acceptable. But exactly that….
Continue ReadingUpdate on Baltimore Cardiac Malpractice: Victims of One Doctor Could Exceed One Thousand
The scandal of Dr. Mark Midei, the cardiologist at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in the Baltimore suburb of Towson, Maryland, is scaling new heights in the number of victims counted. The hospital mailed letters to 585 Midei patients informing them that an independent review shows they may have received heart stents unnecessarily for artery narrowing….
Continue ReadingBaltimore Medical Malpractice Scandal Shows Systemic Problems of Hospital Peer Review
Hundreds of patients appear to have received cardiac stents that they didn’t need from Dr. Mark Midei, a cardiologist at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Towson, Maryland. So why did no one at the hospital blow the whistle? And why did the patients not realize that Midei was rushing them into unwise and risky surgery? Heart….
Continue Reading“Top Hospital” Rankings Not All They’re Cracked Up to Be
When you walk into the lobby of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, you can’t help but notice all the signs informing you that Hopkins is ranked No. 1 hospital in the United States by U.S. News & World Report. Hopkins is justifiably proud of reaching that top spot year after year, but does it mean….
Continue ReadingMalpractice Patterns in Long-Term Care Hospitals Under Federal Investigation
The U.S. Senate Finance Committee is investigating deaths of patients at long-term care hospitals, in follow-up to a report in the New York Times last month. That report showed that the profit-making chains who run these hospitals, which cater to chronically ill patients, sometimes skimp on staffing and training, and disasters have resulted. More on….
Continue ReadingA Hospital Safety Credential Worth Looking For
To avoid becoming a malpractice victim, and to get the highest quality care, a useful safety credential for patients to look for in researching hospitals is called NSQUIP. NSQUIP stands for the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program, developed by the American College of Surgeons. It was adapted from an error-reduction system started by the Veterans….
Continue ReadingHow Good Is U.S. Health Care? It Depends on the Yardstick
Measured by results — preventable deaths and injuries due to malpractice, medical errors, preventable infections, misdiagnosis and other events that shouldn’t happen — American health care has a lot of problems. Millions of patients are injured every year, and upwards of 200,000 patients die annually from preventable errors and hospital-acquired infections. The United States also….
Continue ReadingAnother Good Clue that Your Hospital Takes Infection Prevention Seriously — Chlorhexidine
Memorize the name of this antiseptic wash and make sure your hospital uses it: chlorhexidine. Research continues to pile up that diligent but inexpensive efforts by hospital staff can greatly cut the annual toll of an estimated 100,000 lives lost to hospital infections. The latest simple step involves greater use of the antiseptic chlorhexidine to….
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