|
SAVE THE PATIENTSM NEWSLETTER | Fall 2003 |
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reports that medical errors happen when something that was planned as a part of medical care doesn’t work out or when the wrong plan was used in the first place. Medical errors can occur anywhere in the health care system: hospitals, clinics, doctors’ offices and pharmacies. Errors can involve: medicines, surgery, diagnosis and lab reports. They can happen during the most routine tasks, such as when a hospital patient on a salt-free diet is given a high-salt meal. They also happen as a result of ineffective communication created by today’s complex health care system.
SAVE THE PATIENT (STP) is planning a series of special Focus Group research sessions for the Chicagoland area this fall. STP believes it is important to speak directly to representatives of the public and the medical community to identify and target their needs. Focus group participants will therefore include representatives from healthcare consumer groups and the medical community. The findings will serve as a major source of information for future STP educational curriculum development.
The specific objectives for the focus group sessions are:
- To identify the level of existing knowledge among various groups in terms of understanding patients’ rights, the role of cultural differences in blocking communication and the medical error problem
-To identify other educational initiatives currently underway
-To further clarify the educational needs in these and other related areas
-To present an analysis of the data in the Spring, 2003 STP newsletter.
We are asking for your help in making the Focus Group sessions a success. If you or anyone you know is interested in learning more about or volunteering for one of the sessions contact STP online at savethepatient.org or call 312-440-0630.
SAVE THE PATIENT is pleased to announce the appointment of Cheryl Temple as Program Coordinator. A former English and Humanities instructor, she provides professional support services for STP’s educational programs, outreach services, grant writing, marketing and fundraising initiatives. Ms. Temple’s talent and experience will serve as a valuable asset in our mission to educate and empower patients and the public to make effective and informed health care decisions.
A native of Chicago, she holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Education from Chicago State University and a Masters degree in English from Northern Illinois University. She has taught students of all age and grade levels, including adults at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
Her volunteer activities distinguish her as a community leader. As member of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) since 1980, she has held local and state AAUW board positions. Her volunteer work has generated her professional career as a trainer and program development consultant for non-profits groups including STP and the AAUW-Illinois’ Gender Equity Fund, serving as its Program Director. Ms. Temple is passionate about her work in the non-profit sphere and views it as a means of giving something back and making a positive difference in the world.
A September 3 New York Times article by Robert Pear revealed that rules requiring hospitals to examine and treat people who require emergency medical care, regardless of their ability to pay for it are changing.
The Bush administration drafted new rules that will take effect on November 10 in response to complaints from hospitals and doctors who criticized the existing laws as “onerous, confusing and an encouragement for people to seek free emergency room care.” Thomas A. Scully, administrator of the Federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, stated “the new standards would reduce the costs of compliance for hospitals and doctors without weakening patients’ protection.”
The new rule imposes new limits on the 1986 law that defines hospital obligations. Under the current law, any person who goes to a hospital emergency room must be given a medical screening examination and treatment if an emergency condition exits. Under the new rule, individuals who are admitted as inpatients are no longer guaranteed these services. Additionally, not all hospitals will be required to have doctors on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week to treat emergency room patients. Dr. Robert A Bitterman, an emergency physician at the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C., stated: “The new rule could aggravate an existing problem of the availability of on-call specialists, adding, “the new rule could make it more difficult for patients to get timely access to those specialists.”
In a response to issues of medical errors the Patient Safety Improvement Corps has been formed as a partnership between the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Veterans Administration (VA). The Patient Safety Improvement Corps seeks to improve patient safety by providing knowledge and skills to teams of State field staff and hospital partners selected by each State.
The teams will be provided with the knowledge and skills necessary to:
- Conduct effective investigations of reports of medical errors (e.g. close calls, errors with and without patient injury) by identifying their root causes with an emphasis on underlying system causes.
-Prepare meaningful reports on the findings.
-Develop and implement sustainable system interventions based on report finding
- Measure and evaluate the impact of the safety intervention-Ensure the sustainability of effective safety interventions by transforming them into standard clinical practice.
The first annual training program will kick off this fall and end in May 2004. The program consists of three 1-week sessions with forty participants.
Approximately 90 million Americans may have problems with health literacy according to the AMA. National surveys have found that 21% of adults born in America cannot read the newspaper and 48% cannot read a bus schedule. Doctors assume that patients understand what is being said to them. Yet, many adults because of literacy problems cannot read or comprehend health instructions given by their physicians. In order to help prevent medical errors:
- Make sure there is a family member, friend, or advocate who can understand and go with the patient and help explain, along with the health professional, what is happening.
- Refer to the STP Health Caring cards as to what questions to ask. Respect the privacy, rights, and vulnerability of the patient. Ask your health professional to speak slowly, use simple terms, repeat, and possibly draw a diagram to explain medical condition or need for surgery, etc.
- Bring a pad of paper with pencil, tape recorder, or other device in order to review what was discussed during the medical encounter.
SAVE THE PATIENT is a non-profit, exempt 501c(3) organization whose mission is to educate and empower patients and the public to make effective and informed health care decisions through objective resources. STP is achieving its mission by providing information through Patient Advocacy, Community Outreach, Educational seminars, the Internet and our Health Caring Cards that are available in Spanish, Polish, English, Chinese, and with future funding in Braille. Since October 2002 over 5,000 people have visited the STP website at www.savethepatient.org.
STP needs your support to underwrite its programs and educational efforts.
__________________ tear-off___________________________________________________________
YES! I would like to help SAVE THE PATIENT achieve its mission.
Name ________________________________________________________________
Address ______________________________________________________________
City, State, Zip _________________________________________________________
Phone (home) _________________ Phone (work) _____________________
E-Mail ________________________________________________________________
Here’s how I can help. Please indicate all that apply.
[ ] Monetary donation – Indicate amount ($ ). Make check payable to:
SAVE THE PATIENT, NFP (Contributions to STP are eligible for federal income tax deduction).
[ ] Volunteer time and services for STP programs and projects
[ ] Participate in STP focus groups
Donations can be made on-line at www.savethepatient.org, by phone at 312-440-0630 or mailing donations made payable to SAVE THE PATIENT, NFP to:
260 E. Chestnut St. #1712