STP Community Health Hotline Show Reaches First Anniversary

The Community Health Hotline program will celebrate its first anniversary in May 2007. The 30-minute, live, call-in show on Chicago Access Network (CAN–TV) is part of Save the Patient's efforts to educate, inform, and empower the people of Chicago.

The monthly talk show gives everyday people a proactive approach to managing their healthcare said Lenore Janecek, president of STP. Viewers who wish to join discussions can call in to pose questions or share concerns. “The open discussion format is designed to help mend the disparity between the wealth of healthcare resources available and the dearth of people who are actually aware of them,” said Ms. Janecek, a nationally known healthcare expert, author, and the host of this groundbreaking program.

The show features representatives from the healthcare field (including legislators, community leaders, and healthcare advocates) as they discuss current healthcare issues, topics, resources, and events.

Future topics and guests include:

May 14, 2007—Dr. Laurence Levine, Professor of Urology at Rush Medical Center in Chicago will talk about men's health.
June 18, 2007—Dr. Michael Goldberg, Chair, Department of Gastroenterology, at Evanston Northwestern Medical Center will speak about health prevention and treatment of GI problems, and what you and your family should know.
July 16, 2007—Dr. Stephanie Wang will be the guest. She is an Internist and Instructor at the Medical School at Rush Medical Center in Chicago.

For additional information, call CAN–TV at (312) 738-1400 or e-mail savethepatient@aol.com

5 Million Lives Campaign Launched by Institute for Healthcare Improvement

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement launched phase two of its hospital care improvement efforts in December aimed at reducing hospital-induced injuries by 5 million over the next two years. The 5 Million Lives Campaign asks hospitals to improve the quality of healthcare in order to avoid 5 million incidents of medical harm over a 24-month period ending December 9, 2008.

The nonprofit institute studied injury rates at hospitals and estimated that there are 40 to 50 “incidents of harm” for every 100 patients, about 15 million harm events each year at U.S. hospitals. The injuries include everything from pressure ulcers, more commonly known as bedsores, to surgical complications and infections.

The Campaign was announced by Institute President and CEO Donald Berwick, MD, MPP, at the Institute's Annual Forum in Orlando, Florida. The new campaign follows the success of the 18-month, 100,000 Lives Campaign, which Institute officials say saved an estimated 122,300 unnecessary deaths. Hospitals followed a series of strategies from the Institute to improve the treatment of heart attacks, reduce medication errors, and combat infections and pneumonia that take root in hospitals.

The 5 Million Lives Campaign aims to enlist 4,000 hospitals, challenging them to adopt 12 interventions aimed to help prevent incidents of medical harm.

The detailed prescription for preventing these injuries includes such things as improved bedding and hand hygiene in hospitals, better treatment of congestive heart failure, and thorough disinfecting of rooms where previous patients have had antibiotic-resistant infections.

“The goal of protecting patients from 5 million incidents of medical harm over two years is ambitious, but patients and families deserve no less,” said Campaign Manager and IHI Vice President Joe McCannon. “We're inspired to learn that so many courageous hospital and healthcare leaders share our commitment to addressing this problem. This is the next big step in a major national effort to completely transform the quality of care Americans receive.”

Value Driven Healthcare Initiative Gains Steam

California has joined the movement to increase value-driven health care with the signing of an Executive Order in March by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The order supports increased transparency of healthcare costs and improved accountability of public and private health systems.

The value and transparency movement was aided when President Bush signed an Executive Order to help increase the transparency of America's healthcare system last summer. The Department of Health and Human Services in its website says the transparency initiative is a benefit to the consumer. To spend their healthcare dollars wisely, Americans need to know their options in advance, know the quality of doctors and hospitals in their area, and know what procedures will cost. When Americans buy new cars, they have access to consumer research on safety, reliability, price, and performance—and they should be able to expect the same when they purchase healthcare.

Transparency is a broad-scale initiative enabling consumers to compare the quality and price of healthcare services, so they can make informed choices among doctors and hospitals.

The issue is how to work with the nation's healthcare system to develop interoperable systems that allow the easy transfer of information. Currently, the healthcare “system” in America is not a system says HHS. Each player has its own internal structure for gathering and sharing information, but nothing ties those isolated structures into an interoperable national system capable of making information easily shared and compared.

Interoperable systems are invisible but essential. When you use a cell phone to talk with a friend who uses a different cell service, you are using an interoperable system. Your ATM card is good, not only at virtually all banks nationwide, but thanks to a secure interoperable system, you can use it to buy everything from groceries to gasoline.

The transparency initiative led by HHS lists the following steps to transparency:

The federal government, individual private employers, and health plans commit to sharing information on price and quality in healthcare. Together, the government and major employers provide healthcare coverage for some 70 percent of Americans.
The federal government and individual private employers commit to quality and price standards developed with the medical community. This will help guarantee a fair and accurate view of the quality of care delivered by individual providers, as well as providing consistent measures for quality.
The federal government and individual private employers commit to standards for health Information Technology (IT). Health IT will be important for gathering and using the best information for consumers. These standards are also crucial to the goal of achieving electronic health records for all Americans.
The federal government and individual private employers commit to offering plans that reward consumers who exercise choice based on high quality of care and competitive price for healthcare services.

News from the STP Board of Directors

STP President Lenore Janecek was guest speaker at a meeting hosted by the Community Mental Health Council located in Chicago in March. Janecek spoke on the need for increased attention to the issue of patient safety in the healthcare community. Janecek said the STP message and the Health Carrying Cards were well received by the group.

The STP Health Carrying Cards are available on the STP website www.savethepatient.org.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

The mission of Save the Patient is to educate and empower patients and the public to make effective and informed healthcare decisions through objective resources. We are accomplishing our goal by providing information through patient advocacy, community outreach, educational seminars, the Internet, and our Health Carrying Cards. We have distributed over 10,000 of the Health Carrying Cards, which are available in Spanish, Polish, English, and Chinese. More than 100,000 people have visited our website and viewed our cable TV show.

Save the Patient is a nonprofit, exempt 501(c)3 organization dedicated to the support and education of individuals on healthcare matters. We need your support to underwrite our programs and educational efforts. Make a donation by visiting our website at savethepatient.org or writing us at Save the Patient, 260 E. Chestnut Street, #1712, Chicago, IL 60611 or call 312-440-0630. Contributions to Save the Patient are eligible for federal income tax deduction.