Errors are often the result of poor coordination within the health care system and poor communication on the part of physicians, nurses and patients. What can you to protect yourself and loved ones?
Electronic health records reveal how well doctors are providing care. Are their patients receiving recommended preventive services? Have they been given unnecessary care? It’s in the record.
Medicare’s new Hospital Compare website allows you to compare hospitals side-by-side on a variety of patient safety and patient satisfaction measures. But are the comparisons fair?
Planning to have surgery? Well, you might want to find out just how frequently hospitals in your area are perform the operation before deciding where to go.
The CDC has issued a new set of safety checklist guidelines to reduce outpatient infections because it has found that many facilities aren’t adhering to standard infection prevention practices.
Patients admitted over the weekend face an increased risk, while patients staying over the weekend experience delays at best — and deterioration in clinical condition at worst.
New rules limiting the shifts first-year medical residents can work in hospitals take effect today, but they won’t end the debate over the pros and cons of 24-hour workdays.
Efforts to reduce medical errors have been focused on hospital care but recent research indicates that outpatient care is responsible for many serious injuries.
“Never Events” continue to be common events in U.S. operating rooms. Hospital group estimates 40 “wrong-site” surgeries performed each week in U.S. hospitals and clinics.
Studies of hospitalized patients have found higher rates of errors and poorer outcomes for those treated at night or on the weekend compared with the day shift. Here are some suggestions offered by experts to help patients and families protect themselves.
Medicaid will stop paying for about two dozen “never events” in hospitals, such as operations on the wrong body part and certain surgical-site infections, federal officials said today.
Investigation concluded that Seattle Children’s transport nurses appeared to be confused about what they were allowed to do and whether they could administer medications without a doctor’s order–Seattle Times reports.
LocalHealthGuide is a health news and information web service for Seattle and the Puget Sound Region. We are independent and unaffiliated with any hospital, medical association or insurer. If you have questions or if your group has an upcoming event that you would like us to cover, please let us know by going to our "Contact Us" page and dropping us a note. -- Michael McCarthy, Editor
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Seattle Times Health News
Experts divided over recommendation to screen children for cholesterol
Some clinicians say universal screening is an important tool to help identify children who are genetically predisposed to high cholesterol and to pinpoint others who could benefit from treatment. Others express concerns that screening may do more harm than good.
People in state high-risk insurance plans often feel left behind
The federal health law set up new plans that are cheaper and more comprehensive than the older ones run by states but consumers need to go without insurance for six months to qualify.
Peeking in on your doctor’s notes
Although federal law guarantees patients the right to examine and get copies of their medical records, providers haven’t always made it easy to do so. But the movement to give patients direct access to their health information has picked up steam, and policymakers have encouraged it as a way to empower patients to help manage their health and their medical care.
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