MaineHHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius designates ARRA money to stand-alone or same-day surgical centers to fight hospital infections in 12 states.
Summary of state laws hospital infection reporting laws.
Groundbreaking law will help improve drug safety for all Americans
Drug marketing emphasizes the latest and most expensive drugs even though these drugs may not be the best in their category according to the medical evidence.
In recent years, PBMs have been accused of failing to act in the best interests of their clients.
Patient Safety Groups Support Efforts Under Health Care Reform to Disclose Infection Rates and Tie Payments to Performance
Some drug companies that have started to place information about their clinical trials in the nation’s public registry still do not place enough meaningful information there, according to a new study by the New England Journal of Medicine.
Seeking safe healthcare for her cancer treatment, patient safety advocate–Kathy Day of Maine–recalls the transparency hurdles she faced when she asked a hospital for its infection rates.
Meet the eleven consumer advocates who will be attending a U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS)hospital infection meeting this week.
On June 16, Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project and 11 patient safety advocates from 10 states attended the first “Consumer Conversation on Healthcare-Associated Infections” at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.
Learn about MRSA from the people who have had personal experiences with this harmful superbug.
Last week Senator Grassley of Iowa introduced The Physician Payments Sunshine Act in the Senate that would require drug companies to…
Tough restrictions on direct-to-consumer advertising stripped from the bill; other measures to weaken bill defeated.
Check out this great post from the Drum Major Institute on lowering prescription drug prices. Elana Levin talks about the whole enchilada here–from Part D negotiation to Maine’s Rx program.
According to the Boston Globe, drug companies are scared that a new California will actually work the way it’s supposed to–by lowering the cost of prescription drugs for uninsured people.
Starting Jan. 1, hospitals must submit data on Clostridium difficile, or C. Diff., on a monthly basis to federal and state public health officials. A database with MRSA and C. Diff rates will be readily accessible to the public as early as the spring, reports the Maine Hospital Association.
Doctor authors patient safety checklist. Patient safety activist Kathy Day responds in the comment section.
Doctor authors patient safety checklist.
Her father’s ordeal after a minor injury convinced her that “consumers and patients cannot completely rely on our hospitals to protect us and our safety.”
Patient safety activist Kathy Day, RN: “L.D. 267 would strengthen the current MRSA mandates, extend it to nursing homes, and require public reporting of all hospital acquired MRSA, regular staph infections, C Difficile and VRE (all are dangerous hospital infections).”
“Nurses from EMMC have had to strike over patient safety and safe staffing — so why haven’t EMMC and the EMHS board of directors listened?”
New legislation is pending in Augusta to strengthen recent MRSA tracking, prevention and reporting, not only in Maine hospitals but in nursing homes as well.
Adequate nurse staffing can help patient safety.
Physicians have better sources than salesmen and advertisements to guide prescribing choices.
Maine health care advocates held a press conference to make sure health reform is implemented properly, including improving the quality and safety of health care.
This tip sheet explains steps you can take in your doctor’s office to deal with your concerns about quality. It tells you how to contact places that regulate or oversee doctors.
Advice and resources for dealing with quality concerns
Advice and resources for dealing with quality concerns
Rep. Adam Goode of Bangor, Maine and 9 other representatives and senators sponsored my bill, now known as Maine LD 1038. A much abbreviated form of my proposal was signed into law by Governor John Baldacci in June 2009. We are now mandated to screen those patients who are at high risk for MRSA when admitted to the hospital. My goal is to help save lives. I only wish I had done it before I lost my father.
John McCleary, my father, was admitted to the hospital on September 26, 2008 with a minor fracture of his ankle. He was in that 25 bed hospital for 12 days for rehabilitation and discharged in good condition on October 5.
In January 2007, I went to the ER due to severe pain in right leg calf along with chest pain and shortness of breath. Due to having gall bladder surgery the previous week, and having a hereditary blood clotting disorder, I was concerned that I had a blood clot in my leg.
In May of 2006, I went in to the hospital for a routine abdominal total hysterectomy. I had two previous C-sections, so my physician used the same incision site. After 4 days at home, I noticed a hard lump under the surgery site. I had a low fever, but nothing remarkable, and no pain. On day 7 (post surgery), I returned to the same hospital’s E.R.(due to higher fever and abnormal looking lump under wound site) and waited 6 hours for a room. An ultrasound revealed a mass of some type under the incision.
In January of 2005, I was admitted to a major teaching hospital in the northeast for heart valve replacement and repair surgery. The surgery was successful, yet a few days later I began to show the early symptoms of MRSA.
Over the course of Meredith’s medical treatment for RDS (respiratory distress syndrome) and BPD (bronco pulmonary dysplasia), she suffered a range of medical errors, medication errors and hospital viruses and infections over ten years.
The Safe Patient Project is a Consumers Union campaign focused on eliminating medical harm, improving FDA oversight of prescription drugs and promoting disclosure laws that give information to consumers about health care safety and quality.