SAVE
THE PATIENTSM NEWSLETTER
“The Life You Save Could Be Your
Own”
|
SAVE
THE PATIENTSM NEWSLETTER |
Summer 2005 |
Representatives from Save the Patient attended the annual meeting of the Chicago Patient Safety Forum (CPSF) held at Northwestern Hospital this past spring. The meeting, titled Voices from the Field: Five Years After “To Err is Human, ” was part of the ongoing efforts of the CPSF, a community-based network whose purpose is to facilitate innovative system approaches to understanding and improving patient safety in metropolitan Chicago.
Save the Patient was invited by Leonard Lamkin, MPA, executive director of CPSF to attend the meeting as representatives of the patient community. Lenore Janecek, president, Suzanne Stefanski, executive director, Rose Mary Bombela, board chair, and Valerie S. Prater, advisory board member, participated in the day long event.
The forum examined the Chicago area's progress toward accomplishing the far-reaching recommendations outlined in the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reports. Five years ago, the IOM published To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System, the first in a continuing series of reports about the urgent need to improve patient safety in all U.S. health care setting.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) released the report Characteristics of the Uninsured:
A View from the States to launch the Cover the Uninsured Week activities this past May. The report provides a comprehensive state-by-state analysis of Americans without health care coverage.
The RWJF focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely solutions.
The report was prepared by the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2003 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a national survey of preventive and health risk behavior.
The study showed that the states with the highest rate of uninsured adults were:
• Texas- 30.7 percent
• Louisiana -26.4 percent
States with the lowest adult uninsured rates include:
• Minnesota- 8.3 percent,
• Hawaii-9.8 percent
• Delaware -10.2 percent
• District of Columbia -11 percent
Other findings show that a significant percentage of uninsured adults:
• Live in households with at least one child
• Disparities in health care coverage rates exist among Blacks, Hispanics and Whites and vary significantly from state to state.
In most states, a large portion of the work force lacks health care coverage. States with the highest uninsured rates among employed or self-employed adults include:
• Texas- 26.6 percent
• Louisiana- 22.6 percent
• New Mexico -22.6 percent
States with the lowest uninsured rate among employed or self-employed adults include:
• Minnesota -6.9 percent
• Hawaii -8.5 percent
• District of Columbia- 8.9 percent
Additionally the study found that Working Hispanic and Black adults are more likely to be uninsured than working White adults.
The report shows that as a result, adults who lack health care coverage are:
• More likely to not see a doctor when they are sick due to costs than adults with coverage
• Less likely to have a personal doctor or health care provider than adults with coverage
• More likely to report poor or fair health than adults with coverage
• 30.2 percent of uninsured Hispanic adults, compared to 20 percent of uninsured Black adults and 15.3 percent of uninsured White adults.
Save The Patient (STP) was recently invited to participate in a roundtable discussion focusing on innovative strategies in medical school education that support patient safety and optimal health care. The retreat was held in Telluride, Colorado , in July, and was supported by educational grants from the University of Illinois in Chicago and Southern Illinois Medical Schools. Representing STP were Lenore Janecek, president and Suzanne Stefanski, executive director.
The goals of the retreat were to:
• Continue the momentum in bringing patient safety and quality care outcomes into the medical school curricula.
• Produce a consensus white paper for publication that addresses current educational needs and suggested designs of a patient safety and quality care outcomes medical school curriculum.
• Identify and design two possible pilot program research opportunities that could be fully implemented.
The roundtable discussions covered topics including educational needs in medical school curriculum and educational methodologies.
“We are pleased that STP was invited to participate,” said Stefanski. “It is a unique opportunity for a patient perspective to be presented at a gathering of medical professionals reviewing medical school curriculum. If we can teach medical students to be more cognitive of patient needs then we can truly impact the future of health care.”
Vision, talent and vitality are all qualities gained in recent additions and changes in the Save the Patient (STP) board of directors Rose Mary Bombela, board chair, in announcing the changes said, “We are proud of the wealth of experience our new board officers bring to STP. As we expand our programs, our board leadership is creating a solid foundation to help keep STP in the forefront of patient health education and advocacy.”
Dr. Kathleen Gainer Andreoli, DSN, FAAN, was named to the Board of STP. Dr. Andreoli is Dean Emeritus Kellogg Dean of the College of Nursing at Rush University Medical Centers. Her accomplishments include the implementation of the first coronary care unit and educational program at Duke University Medical Center in the 1960s; the authorship of eight editions of a major textbook on coronary care and creation; and implementation of the Office of Academic Affairs at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston in the 1980s.
Dr. Andreoli is a member of many professional organizations including the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Nursing. In addition, she is a board member of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.
Alexis C. Portugal is the newly named treasurer of the STP board. Portugal is a partner in Saunders , Portugal and Assoc Inc., a public accounting firm offering a full range of accounting, tax, payroll and bookkeeping services. Before starting her own firm she was employed at Option Care Inc. where she rose from division controller to Director of financial operations. Her professional experience includes serving as corporate accounting manager of General Binding Corporation; controller of Carlo Gavazzi Inc. and manager of Accounting for Lawter International Inc.
Portugal received a B.S. in finance from Eastern Illinois University and an M.S. in accounting at DePaul University . She is a member of the Barrington Rotary Club, Illinois CPA Society and the Barrington Area Chamber of Commerce.
Joy Ritt has assumed the role of secretary of the STP board. Joy is currently the director of trading operations for TENCO Inc. at the Chicago Board of Trade. Her career in the agricultural industry began in 1980 with Cargill Inc. Ritt started as a cash grain merchandiser in Kansas and Nebraska before moving the Chicago Board of Trade. She became a full member of the exchange in 1983 and has served on more than 10 committees at the Chicago Board of Trade. She is a past president and a current member of Leadership Illinois.
Health information websites have seen tremendous popularity in recent years. While health sites may be numerous, it is often difficult for consumers to determine which are the most useful and accurate. Save the Patient (STP) invites you to visit our website at www.savethepatient.org to review the links offered which are non commercial and are cleared by a panel of experts before being included on the STP site.
The links are grouped into the following categories:
Additional information on assessing health information websites is provided by the Consumer Report Web Watch, which has performed a study on the 20 most trafficked health sites. The report analyzed different website attributes including: identity, advertising, ease of use, privacy, coverage and design. The study did not test for specific medical subject matter. To view the report visit:
http://www.consumerwebwatch.org/dynamic/health-report-health-ratings.cfm
In preparation for the White House Conference on Aging and in honor of Older Americans Month, this past May a Round Table Discussion on Latino Senior Issues was held in Chicago to bring attention to the challenges faced by Latino seniors. These challenges are often created by economic, social, programmatic, institutional, and other barriers that impede their access to senior services, and are often exacerbated by language and cultural differences. Suzanne Stefanski, executive director, was one of the approximately 80 attendees representing a variety of health human and social service providers that serve the needs of Latino seniors.
The 2005 White House Conference on Aging (WHCoA), which occurs only once a decade, will take place later this year, and focus on aging issues and produce recommendations that will guide national aging policy over the next decade through 2015.
In its summary report, the roundtable participants reported general agreement that:
1. The government needs to increase grants and financial opportunities to better service the needs of Latino older adults
2. Programs and services for seniors need to be expanded to include undocumented Latino older adults
3. The Latino aging population lacks bilingual and bicultural services
4. Literature needs to be translated into standard Spanish at an appropriate reading level for aging Latinos
5. An overall need exists to increase awareness of geriatric services among Latinos on geriatric services
The mission of Save the Patient (STP) is to educate and empower patients and the public to make effective and informed health care decisions through objective resources. We are accomplishing that goal by providing information through patient advocacy, community outreach, educational seminars, our website and health caring cards. STP has distributed more than 10,000 cards, which are available in Chinese, English. Polish and Spanish. O ur website has been visited by more than 140,000 people.
STP is a non-profit, exempt 501c(3) organization dedicated to the education of individuals on health care matters. We need your support to underwrite our programs and educational efforts. You can make a donation by visiting www.savethepatient.org, writing to us at Save the Patient, 260 E. Chestnut St. #1712 , Chicago , IL , 60611 , or by calling 312-440-0630. Contributions to STP are eligible for federal income tax deduction.