SAVE THE PATIENT: About Us

Save the Patient (STP) was recognized as an outstanding resource for community education in comments presented by Dr. Susan C. Scrimshaw, PhD at a Health Disparity Conference in Chicago. The conference was co-sponsored by the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences and held at the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois on December 6, 2004. Scrimshaw said that organizations such as STP are key to creating an educated health consumer.

Hospital Quality Ratings Available to the Public

Patients can now look on a website to find out if their hospital is doing what it should to provide quality care. For now the data covers three major diseases of the elderly...heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia. The data also covers lifesaving treatments that everyone agrees should be given, but that hospitals and doctors often forget.

The Hospital Quality Initiative was started by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide hospital quality information to consumers and improve the care provided by the nation’s hospitals.

Over 4000 hospitals have volunteered to participate in the initiative and submitted data for public reporting. Almost 3,900 of these were short-term acute care hospitals that responded to a payment incentive.

In an article by Gina Kolata reporting for the New York Times News Service doctors responded with shock when they discovered they have been forgetting treatments that can make a difference between life and death.

The article states that at Duke University’s Hospital, for example, when patients arrived short of breath, feverish and suffering from pneumonia their doctors monitored blood oxygen levels and put them on ventilators, if necessary to help them breathe.

But they forgot to give elderly patients or those with emphysema or heart disease a pneumonia vaccine to protect them against future bouts with bacterial pneumonia, a major killer. . Dr. Robert Califf, a professor of medicine at Duke said the hospital is now scrambling to make sure such treatments are not neglected again.

The ratings are posted on the Internet at www.cms.hhs.gov/quality/hospital/. The website is the result of collaborative efforts between CMS, national hospital organizations, accrediting organizations, consumer advocates and others.

MEDICAL CARE SCORES GO UP WHEN PATIENTS SEE PHYSICIANS OF THE SAME RACE

White and African-American patients who see physicians of the same race rate their medical visits as more satisfying and participatory than do those who see physicians of other races, even when the nature of the conversation in both types of visits is similar, a Johns Hopkins study finds.

For the study the researchers taped conversations between physicians and patients during the medical visits of 252 patients (142 African-Americans and 110 Whites) receiving care from 31 physicians (18 African-Americans and 13 Whites) at 16 primary care clinics in the Baltimore and Washington metropolitan areas.

“Even when the verbal content of the visits was the same, perceptions of the visit were more positive in race-concordant visits, suggesting that patient and physician attitudes and expectations, rather than the actual words used to communicate may have affected the patients experiences”, says Lisa A. Cooper, M.D., M.P.H., lead author of the study and associate professor of medicine and health policy and management at Hopkins.

Cooper added that while teaching communication skills to physicians is important, increasing ethnic diversity among physicians and engendering trust and comfort between patients and physicians of different races may be the best strategy to improve health care experiences for members of ethnic minority groups.

The Institute of Medicine has called for the need for greater diversity among health professionals. In their report In the Nation’s Compelling Interest: Ensuring Diversity in the Health Care Workforce researchers highlighted the benefits of increased diversity and presented an assessment of strategies to increase diversity.

Members of other ethnic groups were not included in the study due to their small numbers in the clinical sites studied. Because of geographic limitations it is impossible to know whether the findings can be applied to the nation as a whole.

STP Names Interim Executive Director

Suzanne Stefanski was named Interim Executive Director of Save The Patient (STP) by the Board of Directors. Stefanski is a seasoned consultant with an outstanding track record of leading and coaching executive teams through large-scale change. Ms. Stefanski is taking a leave of absence from her role as Vice Chair of the STP Board of Directors for the interim. She assumes her new responsibilities as of February 1, 2005.

STP President Lenore Janecek said, “We are very lucky to have a person of Suzanne’s talent and experience lead our organization. Her ability to coach and motivate diverse communities of people, as well as her strong strategic and execution skills will be a valuable asset to the organization.”

Stefanski is a founding partner of SMS Partners, an independent alliance of recognized practitioners of organizational change and human capital development. Her client list and industry experience includes: McDonalds Corporation, Georgia Pacific, Dixie Food Service, CNA Insurance and Rockwell Automation, among others.

She has also applied her leadership talents to community issues and not for profit organizations. Stefanski is a Board member of Leadership Illinois, a professional women’s organization and a former committee member of Illinois School District 200 High School of the Future Strategic Planning Council.

Good Parent-Doctor Relationships are Key to Parents Following Doctor’s Advice About Their Children

Researchers at the John Hopkins Children’s Center report that parents are more likely to follow advice that may keep their children safe from injury if they trust their children’s doctor. Parents whose children are at risk for child abuse and neglect may be reluctant to follow injury and illness prevention advice from pediatricians with whom they do not have a good working relationship say researchers.

In the study, published jointly in the January issue of Pediatrics, by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Center, the Johns Burns University of Hawaii School of Medicine and the Hawaii State Health Department reported that families who had good relationships with their pediatricians reported receiving more advice on injury prevention issues. Catherine Nelson, M.D., M.P.H., the study’s lead author said “While it may seem basic, this practical advice could prove life-saving to children whose home and family situations already make them vulnerable to unintentional injury, the leading cause of death of children over one year of age in this country.”

Researchers say that pediatricians recognize the importance of injury and illness prevention counseling but time constraints can prevent a pediatrician from discussing all aspects of injury prevention as well as impede the development of a good family relationship.

The study looked as whether the doctor talked to parents about the presence of smoke alarms in the home, use of baby walkers and car seats, safe hot water heater temperatures (120 degrees or less) use of stair guards and sunscreen, presence of guns in the home and bottle propping at bedtime.

“The medical community recognizes that the clinician-parent relationship is the centerpiece of primary care. As we observed in our study, this relationship is especially important for clinicians dealing with families at risk of child abuse and neglect. Not only are their children more likely to experience illness or unintentional injury but also they often face other issues, such as partner violence or substance abuse, which may make them wary of doctors, Nelson says.

“Good relationships between pediatricians and parents are developed through mutual understand of the “Medical Home” concept – primary care physician services that are accessible, family centered, coordinated, comprehensive, continuous, culturally effective and compassionate” adds Calvin C.J. Sia, M.D., FAAP, Professor Pediatrics at the John Burns University of Hawaii School of Medicine and a co-author of the study.

TIPS TO STAY SAFE IN THE HOSPIAL

Modern medical care in today’s hospitals can be a blessing for treating difficult medical problems. But it is has also been shown that what happens in the hospital can sometimes cause additional health problems and even death.

The Institute of Medicine, which advises the government on health policy, showed in a 1999 study that errors made by hospital staff kill up to 100,000 people each year and seriously injure roughly a half-million more. Research shows that major areas of concern are: infections, drug errors, surgical mistakes, and miscommunication.

In the January 2005 issue of Consumer Reports on Health patients were advised to exercise caution, ask questions, and be vigilant about the quality of care received.

The article listed several key steps to help reduce your risk during a hospital stay: