patient safety

Doctors’ Errors: They Happen More Than You Think (And Can Hurt You)

Posted on 05/7/2013 by | Health | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthBy Sandra G. Boodman This Kaiser Health News story produced in collaboration with The Washington Post Until it happened to him, Itzhak Brook, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Georgetown University School of Medicine, didn’t think much about the problem of misdiagnosis. That was before doctors at a Maryland hospital repeatedly told Brook his throat pain was the result of acid reflux, not cancer. The correct diagnosis was made by an astute resident who found the tumor  —  the size …

5 Tips for Staying Safe in the Hospital: A Checklist

Posted on 04/30/2013 by | Health | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthBy Roni Caryn Rabin This KHN story was produced in collaboration with The Washington Post Wanted: an advocate for a hospital patient. Long hours, no pay. Must be articulate, assertive, able to ask tough questions and stay cool under pressure. Blood relative or close friend preferred. Knowledge about the health-care system a plus. “It would be ideal to have Dr. Marcus Welby looking in on you and coordinating everything, and giving you a big reassuring smile but that’s not the …

Is Your Dentist Safe? 5 Steps You Can Take

Posted on 04/4/2013 by | News, Culture, Sights and Sounds | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthFew people like going to the dentist, even if those tooth-yankers do rate highly for honesty and ethics. At my most recent visit, I got a referral to the gum specialist … again. Painful memories have slowed me from making the call, but healthy choppers are important, so I know I will. But thousands of dental patients in the Tulsa, Okla., area have a new reason to fear the chair: their dentist might have given them hepatitis B or C, …

Why Are Hospital Ratings All Over the Map?

Posted on 03/18/2013 by | Health | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthBy Jordan Rau, Senior Correspondent, Kaiser Health News How good a hospital is St. Mary Mercy Livonia Hospital? Depends on whom you ask. The Leapfrog Group, a respected nonprofit that promotes patient safety, gave an “A” to this Michigan hospital. The company Healthgrades named it one of America’s best 50 hospitals. But the Joint Commission, a nonprofit organization that accredits hospitals, and U.S. News and World Report omitted St. Mary from their best hospital lists. Consumer Reports gave it an …

In Surgery, Failing ‘No Sponge Left Behind’

Posted on 12/21/2012 by | Personal Health and Well-being | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthHere’s a scary statistic: A surgeon in the U.S. leaves a foreign object, such as a sponge or towel, inside a patient’s body after an operation 39 times a week. Even scarier, surgeons perform the wrong procedure on a patient 20 times a week and operate on the wrong body site 20 times a week, according to an analysis of national malpractice claims by patient-safety researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Researchers also found that patients 60 or older …

ICU Patients: Twice As Likely to Suffer Fatal Misdiagnosis

Posted on 08/29/2012 by | Personal Health and Well-being | Comments

Bulletin Today | Personal HealthYou would think that patients in a hospital’s intensive care unit would be the least likely to worsen or die simply because someone misdiagnosed their condition. Unfortunately, you would be wrong, say patient safety experts with Johns Hopkins University in a new study. Despite all the tests and close monitoring of ICU patients, researchers found that these patients face twice the risk of a fatal diagnostic error as compared with adult hospital patients overall. In fact, as many as 40,500 …