This Common Health Condition Is A Major Cause Of Preventable Hospital Deaths
Health complications caused by blood clots are a leading cause of preventable hospital deaths. One such complication is a pulmonary embolism, which occurs when blood clots travel to and block arteries in the lungs. Deaths caused by pulmonary embolisms in hospitals are surprisingly common. Many factors can increase the risk of a pulmonary embolism. Patients… Read more »
Tags: HospitalSafety
Posted in Medical Malpractice
Florida Hospitals Lose Funding for Patient Safety Hazards
Seven hospitals in Northeast Florida are losing Medicare funding for having high rates of hospital-acquired infections and other patient safety hazards. Under a provision in the Affordable Care Act, hospitals are graded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on patient safety. Hospitals are assigned scores on a 10-point scale. Those in the bottom… Read more »
Tags: HospitalSafety
Posted in Medical Negligence
Is Your Hospital Guilty of this Common Mistake?
Patient identification mistakes are tragic and preventable. When these mistakes are made, patients have organs unnecessarily removed, are subjected to harmful treatments and given unnecessary medications. Take for example a recent case in Massachusetts, where a surgeon working as a contractor removed a kidney from the wrong patient! To be honest, these types of errors… Read more »
Tags: HospitalSafety
Posted in Medical Negligence
How Are Families Affected by Medical Mistakes?
Medical mistakes can severely affect the lives of patients and their families. It would be unfair to suggest that only the patients suffer when errors are made by doctors or hospitals. Some of these errors can cause severe disabilities, meaning parents, siblings, significant others or children are tasked with providing round-the-clock care. The costs of… Read more »
Tags: HospitalSafety
Posted in Medical Malpractice
Watch Your Step, Falls in Hospitals Hurt Thousands of Patients Annually
Did you know falls are one of the top patient safety threats in hospitals? Statistics gathered by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) show that thousands of hospital patients are injured in falls every year. One-third of hospital falls are preventable. In some cases, hospitals do not take the necessary steps to prevent… Read more »
Tags: HospitalSafety
Posted in Medical Malpractice
Can Robots Transform Hospital Safety?
Robots are being used in healthcare settings to prevent pharmacy mistakes, assist with surgery and to diagnose illnesses. In many cases, robots perform these tasks more accurately than human beings. It seems possible robots can make hospitals safer. Read on to learn more about how robots or artificial intelligence have been used to prevent medical… Read more »
Tags: HospitalSafety
Posted in Medical Malpractice
Should You Use Yelp to Find a Hospital or Doctor?
People use Yelp to find reviews on restaurants, barbershops, retail stores and other businesses. Customers also leave detailed comments describing their experiences with service. Should we use Yelp to rate hospitals or doctors in the same way we do businesses? Would this be a reliable way of finding hospital safety scores? Yelp does allow patients… Read more »
Tags: HospitalSafety
Posted in Medical Malpractice
What You Should Know About Wrong-Patient Surgeries
Wrong-patient surgeries have horrific and permanent consequences for patients and their families. Doctors may sometimes remove limbs or other body parts from the wrong patients. A wrong-patient surgery that occurred in Massachusetts is gaining national media attention. According to St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, a doctor removed a kidney from the wrong patient. St. Vincent… Read more »
Tags: HospitalSafety
Posted in Surgical Errors
You Won’t Believe This New Study on Rehabilitation Hospitals
A recent study carried out by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) discovered patients at rehabilitation facilities are more likely to be harmed by preventable medical errors. Unfortunately, many people hurt by rehabilitation hospital errors are vulnerable and in poor health. Rehabilitation facilities used in the study were not associated with regular… Read more »
Tags: HospitalSafety
Posted in Medication Errors
Should Surgeons Retire at a Certain Age?
Surgeons have one of the most important jobs in the medical community. Patients must depend on surgeons to handle their lives with care. While older age often means surgeons are more experienced, it can also signal the beginning of health and motor problems that can make their jobs more difficult. For example, the elderly are… Read more »
Tags: HospitalSafety
Posted in Surgical Errors
