Leapfrog Group has recently released its semiannual Hospital Safety Grades, ranking care facilities nationwide on a myriad of metrics. While the nonprofit organization is devoted to better safety, quality and affordability for US health care, their recent findings have revealed that medical care in Washington…
Errors made by hospital staff in dispensing medication can be dangerous if not lethal to patients—worse, dosing for children or infants poses an even bigger problem, as even a small miscalculation can cause serious medical issues. In fact, medical errors may account for as many…
Upcoming changes to federal reporting on hospital infection rates could keep patients uninformed about the safety of their healthcare facility. Dangerous infections such as MRSA affect one in 25 patients every day and can quickly lead to long term injury or death without the correct…
Maybe you have seen the recent news stories or personally viewed the YouTube videos posted by the now suspended dermatologist, Dr. Windell Boutte. Atlanta’s notorious “Booty Doctor” ultimately danced her way into numerous lawsuits and complaints of complications and botched surgeries after cutting on patients…
Each year, an estimated 250,000 Americans die as a result of medical errors—the term given to any effort by healthcare professionals that had a preventable adverse effect for the patient. A topic I’ve discussed in past blogs—the total number has even been reported as high…
Almost six months ago, I first touched on the problems of a Washington D.C. area hospital that is desperately needed to serve an otherwise isolated community. While there have been issues for some time, the seriousness of the situation came to the attention of the…
Hospitals across the country must operate in accordance with safety standards set by the federal government or else face being penalized by the Medicare payment system. Many hospitals rely on Medicare to function, and as such, this is a powerful incentive to comply with guidelines.…
While it might come as a surprise to many, doctors who face medical malpractice lawsuits—and even those who are found negligent—don’t always receive disciplinary action from state health regulators. Often, repeat offenders can still be practicing both during and after a medical malpractice lawsuit. One…
Patients deal with a host of risks whenever they enter a hospital for treatment. Hospitals have a duty by law to ensure that their facilities and practices provide a safe environment for patients. And while most safety errors are made by hospitals during or after…
In 1999, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a report called To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System that brought to light the issue of hospital patients dying from medical errors; at the time is was guesstimated to be as great as 98,000…
