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.
surgical site infection
Hospital infections still high among Medicare patients
A recent NEJM report says Medicare’s policy of not paying for the treatment of two types of hospital infections has not shown to decrease infection rates. But there may be more to the story.
Categories: Hospital Acquired Infections
Tags: bloodstream infection, Medicare, surgical site infection, urinary tract infection
Consumers win on reporting surgical infection rates in CA
Last week, California hospitals lost their bid to avoid reporting their infection rates to the public. A California judge upheld a 2008 state law – one of the strongest in the nation – that calls on hospitals to report infections occurring from a broad array of surgeries.
Categories: Hospital Acquired Infections
Tags: CDC, public reporting, surgical site infection
MRSA Study Indicates Good News But Far Too Many Patients Suffering
Last week’s good news of a decline in serious MRSA health care-acquired infections, is a victory for patient safety, but we still have a long way to go to eliminate this very preventable crisis.
Categories: Hospital Acquired Infections, MRSA
Tags: CDC, ICU, medicare part d, public reporting, surgical site infection, VA, veterans, VRE
Victory for patients! Public reporting of certain infections will go nationwide
Soon it will be easier for you to find out how well your hospital prevents certain infections. As part of the new health care reform law, the Department of Health and Human Services will require hospitals to publicly disclose several types of dangerous hospital infections.
Categories: Hospital Acquired Infections, MRSA
Tags: C. diff, HHS, ICU, medicare part d, public reporting, surgical site infection
Patient safety activists hold “conversation” with CDC
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.
Categories: Hospital Acquired Infections, MRSA
Tags: C. diff, CDC, patient safety activists, Patient Safety Day, public reporting, surgical site infection
New CDC report on CLABSIs: One step forward, many more to go
This week the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a state-specific report (not hospital specific) on rates of central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) in the ICU as collected by its National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), a monitoring system that looks at hospital infections across the nation.
Categories: Hospital Acquired Infections
Tags: CDC, CLABSI, ICU, public reporting, surgical site infection
Septicemia Statistics and the Need for Death Certificate Reform
Guest blog by Lori Nerbonne of NH Patient Voices–Death certificates are the primary source of important vital statistics in our country – yet too many certificates fail to tell the whole story.
Categories: Hospital Acquired Infections, MRSA
Tags: CDC, medicare part d, Septicemia, surgical error, surgical site infection
Jon Stewart: What If We Classified Hospital Infections as Terrorists?
Surgeon and author Atul Gawande, M.D., discusses the surgical checklist on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Categories: Hospital Acquired Infections
Tags: CDC, public reporting, surgical error, surgical site infection, video
U.S. Congressman dies following surgical error, infection
Our leaders in Congress experience medical harm, too. On Monday, Politico reported that Pennsylvania U.S. Congressman John Murtha had died as a result of complications from recent gallbladder removal surgery at Bethesda Naval Hospital.
Categories: Hospital Acquired Infections, Medical Errors
Tags: HHS, Medicare, Patient Safety Day, surgical error, surgical site infection
Consumer Reports Health: Many Hospitals Fail To Lower Infection Rates Despite Lifesaving Checklist
New online ratings provide patients with easy access to hospital infection rates, a first for consumers
Categories: Hospital Acquired Infections, MRSA
Tags: Consumer Reports, hospital infecton, surgical site infection
