Patient safety has long been one of our nation’s most challenging healthcare issues.

Patients: An Untapped Safety Resource.
by Dr. Julia Hallisy
This article appeared on Medscape.com in April 2008.

We have all heard the sobering statistics:
-- Hospital-acquired infections are a leading cause of death in the United States. (1)
-- Preventable urinary tract infections number in the thousands and add an average of $40,000 to the cost of a hospital stay. (2)
-- Medication errors injure 1.5 million people every year. (3)

These startling numbers were originally contested as being impossibly high, but are now universally accepted as valid and undeniably support the fact that we need immediate and significant improvements in patient safety.

The all-important question is this: Can patients really have an impact on the safety and the quality of their care?

I know that the answer is a resounding “Yes” because I envision a health care system where patients realize that they can reduce their risk of infection by asking that their catheters be removed as soon as possible, where cardiac patients inquire if they should be given beta blockers, and where patients know that the American Medical Association recommends that stethoscopes be disinfected before they touch each patient. (4)

Imagine how many adverse events would be eliminated by patients asking if they need pre-operative antibiotics and then reminding the staff to administer them, by patients making sure that their tissue samples are checked by a second pathologist and by patients insisting on marking their surgical sites.

Patients are coming to the realization that they are a powerful, yet untapped, safety resource. Once patients understand that their demands compel the system to improve, they will claim safe and efficient health care as their right.

That’s my opinion. I’m Dr. Julia Hallisy, dentist and author of “The Empowered Patient: Hundreds of life-saving facts, action steps and strategies you need to know.”

REFERENCES
1. Wenzel, Richard P. and Edmond, Michael B., “The Impact of Hospital-Acquired Bloodstream Infections.” Emerging Infectious Diseases. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mar-Apr 2001, Volume 7, No.2.

2. Rosenthal, Meredith B., “Nonpayment for Performance? Medicare’s New Reimbursement Rule.” The New England Journal of Medicine. October 18, 2007; Volume 357, No. 16, 1573-1575.

3. “Medication Errors Injure 1.5 Million People and Cost Billions of Dollars Annually; Report Offers Comprehensive Strategies for Reducing Drug-Related Mistakes.” Press Release, The National Academies. July 20, 2006

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