SAVE THE PATIENT LAUNCHES LIFE-SAVING AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

Non-Profit Organization Provides Resources to Public for Informed Health Care Decisions

CHICAGO, Nov. 06, 2002 - Chicago-based non-profit organization SAVE THE PATIENT announces today new life-saving resources now available to the health care community and general public at no cost. Through patient advocacy, community outreach, educational seminars, Internet and Health Caring Cards, SAVE THE PATIENT aspires to fulfill its mission to educate and empower patients and the public to make effective and informed health care decisions through objective resources and in turn, decrease the staggering number of deaths due to medical error each year.

Nationally recognized health care and benefits specialist Lenore Janecek, founder and president of SAVE THE PATIENT, was falsely diagnosed with cancer and received major abdominal surgery that removed parts of her ileum and colon. After suffering for several months, she received a telephone call that changed her life and potentially many others.

"I couldn't believe it when I got the call from my doctor," explains Janecek. "He said I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is that you do not have cancer. The bad news is that you did not need the surgery. The genetic test revealed cells belonging to another patient, a man, on which we based your surgery."

Thus, with the help of family, friends and colleagues, Janecek established SAVE THE PATIENT. One person can make a difference. Sometimes a need is born and recognized from tragedy, suffering and sacrifice. It is a way to ensure that similar mistakes are prevented.

And, according to health care statistics, this need is essential:

• Each year, mortality due to medical errors in the United States has been estimated to be between 44,000 and 98,000 - accounting for more deaths than motor vehicle crashes, breast cancer, or AIDS, according to the 1999 Institute of Medicine Report. The IOM report estimates that medical errors cost the US approximately $37.6 billion each year; about $17 billion of those costs are associated with preventable errors.
  
  
• An estimated 1.3 million Americans are injured and at least 400 die each year from medication errors according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
  
  
• Deaths linked to hospital germs represent the fourth leading cause of mortality among Americans, behind heart disease, cancer and strokes, according to the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

SAVE THE PATIENT works to improve communication between doctors and patients through the following vehicles:

• Patient Advocacy works onsite with the goal of educating health care providers, community-based organizations, and caregivers about improved communication and understanding in the health care setting.
  
  
• Community Outreach trains patient advocates to assist those individuals who need assistance in their native languages in communities where English is not the primary language.
  
  
• Educational Seminars provide workshops for medical advisors to train-the-trainer about effective communication skills that inform the public about patients' rights, medical procedures, and treatment options. Those who give medical care can form partnerships with those on the receiving end, each bearing some of the responsibility and each having as their number one priority the health of the patient.
  
  
• The SAVE THE PATIENT Web site provides the public with objective and user-friendly health care information. Links to accredited Web sites in several languages enable a multitude of multi-cultural and multi-generational groups to have age- and gender-specific information.
  
  
• Health Caring Cards are wallet-sized, laminated cards that contain pertinent questions to ask doctors, surgeons, hospitals and prescription drug providers, and currently available, free of charge, in English and Spanish at savethepatient.org or by calling (312) 440-0630. The questions appear in English on the front of the card, with Spanish, Polish, Korean, Chinese, or Vietnamese on the reverse side. Additional languages, including Braille, will be added as increased donations and funding are received. The relevant questions have been suggested by experienced physicians affiliated with SAVE THE PATIENT and are likely to enhance a patient's understanding of any medical encounter.

In addition to saving lives, decreasing medical errors will save billions of dollars in lower health care costs as well as reducing health insurance premiums for employers, government, and taxpayers.

SAVE THE PATIENT was established in May 2001, to provide objective health care information to people of all ages, cultures, and socioeconomic backgrounds. SAVE THE PATIENT educates, informs, and empowers the public to make responsible health care decisions for themselves and their families. SAVE THE PATIENT does not practice medicine nor represent or endorse professional diagnosis or treatment options. For more information, please contact via email at savethepatient@aol.com or call at (312) 440-0630.