Safe Patient Project: National

Consumers Union Finds Slow Progress on Patient Safety in California

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:32:13 -0600

California Department of Public Health Has Failed to Carry Out Key Requirements of Recent Patient Safety Laws

New Resource for Those Dissatisfied with a Health Care Experience

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:53:19 -0600

Guest blog post by Deb Wachenheim, Health Quality Manager at Health Care For All (HCFA) in Boston. HCFA has launched a new website that can help patients in Massachusetts and across the country speak up when something goes wrong in the hospital. There is information on asking for help when you are in the hospital, advice on how to file a complaint, and resources available to help you.

New Resource for Those Dissatisfied with a Health Care Experience

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:43:07 -0600

Health Care For All has created an informative website, www.assertivepatient.org, to assist patients on how to navigate the complaint process when something goes wrong at the hospital.

Patty Skolnik: Founder and Executive Director, Citizens for Patient Safety

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:43:01 -0600

In 2001, Patty and David Skolnik spent nearly three years watching their only child, Michael, play victim to a broken system as a result of unnecessary brain surgery. Due to medical error caused by negligence and incompetence, routine expectations of our healthcare system proved ineffective in providing quality medical care and patient safety for 22 year old Michael Skolnik.

Doctor Leads Quest for Safer Ways to Care for Patients

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:35:14 -0600

Interview with Dr. Peter Pronovost, medical director of the Quality and Safety Research Group at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and promoter of a patient safety checklist for doctors.

Are Veterans Being Given Deadly Cocktails to Treat PTSD?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:14:35 -0600

AstraZeneca has been linked to the deaths of soldiers returning from war.

Tracking Nurses � What You Need to Know

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:58:08 -0600

ProPublica reporters Charles Ornstein and Tracey Weber have put together a very useful tool for tracking nurses performance. The chart shows, "which states allow you to verify a nurse�s license for free online, which provide Web access to disciplinary documents, and which participate in a publicly available national database. "

Intriguing people for March 1, 2010: Patty Skolnik

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:33:13 -0600

Patty Skolnik, Founder of Citizens for Patient Safety, makes CNN's "Intriguing people" feature. Patty was a speaker on CU's consumer panel on medical harm at our "To Err Is Human, To Delay Is Deadly" forum in DC. She is a lead advocate in Colorado and nationally on patient safety and doctor accountability issues.

Adverse Events in Hospitals: Methods for Identifying Events (pdf)

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:48:40 -0600

OIG report on the sad state of medical error reporting.

California Pharmacy Board Should Support Safer Medication Labels

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:49:32 -0600

Guest blog post written by Syed Sayeed, Policy Analyst at Consumers Union's West Coast Office. CU is calling on California residents to submit comments to the Pharmacy Board by March 10th, in support of requiring all pharmacies to print important label information in at least a 12-point font size.

Book Review: Safe Patients, Smart Hospitals

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:55:05 -0600

Review of Dr. Peter Pronovost's new book on challenging a "toxic" medical culture that doesn't crack down on medical errors.

Tracking Nurses � What You Need to Know

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:05:41 -0600

Each state has a different process for investigating and disciplining nurses and for making licensing information available to the public. ProPublica compiled a chart to show which states allow you to verify a nurse�s license for free online, which provide Web access to disciplinary documents, and which participate in a publicly available national database.

Dangerous Caregivers Missing From Federal Database

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:10:23 -0600

A federal database of disciplinary actions taken against health professionals is missing numerous serious disciplinary records.

Navy opens review of care Murtha received in surgery

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:22:52 -0600

The National Naval Medical Center has opened a review of the surgical care provided to the late Congressman John Murtha after the Pennsylvania Democrat died following surgery, a senior U.S. military official told CNN Wednesday.

Bronx hospitals clean up their act to lower infection rates in ICU

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 14:07:29 -0600

A recent report compiled by Consumers Union comparing infection rates reported by hospitals in 2008 showed that Lincoln Medical Center in the Bronx had 44% fewer infections than the national average.