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.
Nancy Oliver became a patient safety activist when her father passed away after suffering from hospital-acquired infections. Her father had successful heart bypass surgery following a mild heart attack.
Hospital Acquired Infections
Hospital acquired infections are a leading cause of death in the U.S. Consumers Union supports public disclosure of infection rates so that you can choose the safest hospital and hospitals will have an incentive to improve.
Click here for State Disclosure Reports
Consumers Union Documents
- Quick Steps for Searching Hospital Compare Infection Information
Central Line Bloodstream Infection Information Now Available for Hospitals Nationwide Instructions for Finding Out About Your Hospital: The Department of Health & Human Services is now disclosing for the first time information to compare central line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) in intensive care units at hospitals across the country. Three months of CLABSI information for Continue Reading
- Dangerous infections are more likely in pediatric intensive-care units
Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center found that pediatric ICUs often have higher infection rates than adult ICUs, and that some do much better than others at preventing infections.
- CU Summary State Hospital Infection Disclosure Laws
Summary of state laws as of July, 2011
- Study: Hospital uniforms are laden with disease-causing bacteria
How clean is your doctor’s coat? It may be harboring potentially deadly bacteria like MRSA.
- CDC releases infection prevention guide for outpatient clinics
Research shows that infection risks can be just as serious in outpatient surgery centers as they are in hospitals.
- Your hospital survival guide: The basics
Here’s Consumer Reports Health’s advice for a safe hospital stay, from check-in to discharge. We assume you’ll be staying overnight, but much of our advice applies to outpatient visits, too.
- Are brand-name hospitals better?
New Consumer Reports Health hospital study on central line-associated bloodstream infections in their intensive-care units that stemmed from central-lines, which are large catheters used to deliver fluids, medication, and nutrition to patients. They are the most common hospital-acquired infections, and kill up to 25 percent of the people who develop them.
- Consumer Reports magazine: May 2011 Viewpoint
Patient safety activist, Kimberly Ratliff of Rocklin, CA, was featured in the Viewpoint of Consumer Reports magazine, about the death of her infant daughter Charlee who acquired several hospital infections.
- Video: Advice on staying safe in the hospital–from the experts
- Testimony of Elizabeth M. Imholz, Consumers Union Special Projects Director before CA Senate Health Committee
Stopping the occurrence of medical harm
Consumers Union News Releases
- Central Line Bloodstream Infections Disclosed at Hospitals Nationwide
Infection Disclosure Is A Milestone Following A Multi-Year Campaign By Consumer Advocates to Make Information Public
- California Releases New Report on Hospital Infection Rates
SACRAMENTO, CA – The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued its annual report today detailing patient infection rates at hospitals across the state. The report publishes the rates for a wide variety of infections at California hospitals and helps to establish California as a leader among states for disclosing such patient safety data, according to Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project.
- Patient Safety Activists To Rally Outside San Francisco Court House
California Hospital Association’s Suit Seeks to Undermine Effort to Make Surgical Infection Data Available to the Public.
- HHS Announces National Campaign to Improve Patient Safety
CONSUMERS UNION SAFE PATIENT PROJECT — NEWS RELEASE Please Note: Consumers Union can connect reporters with patients who have suffered from hospital infections and other medical harm. To find out more, contact Michael McCauley at mccami@consumer.org For Immediate Release: Tuesday, April 12, 2011 Contact: Michael McCauley (mccami@consumer.org), 415-902-9537 (cell), 415-431-6747,
- Consumer Reports Poll Finds High Levels of Concern About Medical Harm & Support For Public Ratings on Hospital Safety
A new poll released today by the Consumer Reports National Research Center found high levels of public concern about hospital-acquired infections and other forms of medical harm.
- CDC: 58% drop in central line infections in ICUs
Report Shows Infections Are Preventable But More Effort Is Needed To Protect Patients.
- California Issues Reports on Hospital-Acquired Infections
The reports provide a first glimpse at Hospital Infection Rates. Consumers Union press release recommending the state work harder to ensure the data is accurate and provided in a format consumers can easily view and understand.
- Report Finds Medical Errors More Common
Consumers Union Calls For Public Reporting of Medical Errors
- Report Finds That Only Half of California Hospital Workers Got Flu Vaccine
Report Finds That Only Half of California Hospital Workers Got Flu Vaccine
- New HHS Regulations Require Public Reporting of Certain Hospital Infections
Beginning next year, consumers across the country will be able to find out how their hospital stacks up when it comes to infections.
Blog Posts
- California Releases New Report on Hospital Infection Rates
A report by the California Department of Public Health, makes California a national leader on public reporting of infections.
- Cancer patient asks hospitals for their infection rates
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.
- Consumer voices to be heard at national hospital infection meeting
Meet the eleven consumer advocates who will be attending a U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS)hospital infection meeting this week.
- “Please, don’t infect me”
Hospital infection survivor and “numerator,” Kerry O’Connell describes the emotional and physical impact of hospital infection on patients and calls for more empathy and honesty from our health care providers.
- “It’s not just statistics…it’s somebody’s Mom”
Hospital infections leave a lasting impact on the individuals and families who had to experience them. For Mary Brennan-Taylor, hospital infections took the life of her mother, Alice Brennan, who passed away in 2009 after entering the hospital for pain and swelling in her leg.
- Swine flu victim dies from hospital acquired infection
New York swine flu patient dies from a hospital-acquired infection in a local ICU where she had been successfully treated for swine flu.
- 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.
- Tuesday 6/7: Join a live web chat with Safe Patient Project
Join the Chicago Tribune for a live web chat at noon CT (1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT) on Tuesday, June 7, to chat about hospital safety with Tribune reporter Judy Graham, and panelists Empowered Patient Coalition’s Dr. Julia Hallisy and Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project Director Lisa McGiffert.
- Video: Advice on staying safe in the hospital–from the experts
Hear advice from consumer advocates on patient safety.
- Beware of Scary Superbugs in Your Hospital
It only takes three things for a hospital superbug to infect a patient. Should you be concerned?
News Articles
- State report finds high infection rate for vaginal hysterectomies; other surgical infections below national estimates Source: Boston Globe (Tuesday February 21, 2012)
According to the latest MA state report, number of infections reported for vaginal hysterectomies in the past two years was more than twice what was predicted and higher than the national baseline.
- How dirty medical devices expose patients to infection Source: iWatch News (Wednesday February 22, 2012)
An outbreak of infections at a Texas hospital prompted an investigation of the surgical tools used and raised concerns about dirty devices, including possible design flaws that make them difficult to clean.
- Hospital excels in infection avoidance Source: The Free Lance-Star (Thursday February 9, 2012)
Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project Director, Lisa McGiffert, quoted in an article about Virginia’s central line associated infection data.
- Safe To Be Sick Source: National Journal (Thursday January 19, 2012)
Susan Manganello, patient safety advocate in CT, interviewed about the hospital infections that took her 22-year-old daughter’s life in 2005. Public reporting efforts led by consumer advocates have motivated hospitals to reduce their infection rates. Said the CDC’s Denise Cardo: “If it weren’t for Consumers Union pushing for legislation, public reporting, we would not be here now,” she said at a forum sponsored by National Journal and the Association of Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology in October. “We have many states with public-reporting legislation. That’s the reason I can come and tell you what is going on in the nation.”
- Kevin Kavanagh and Daniel Saman | Hospital infections are underreported Source: Courier-Journal (Tuesday January 31, 2012)
Op-ed co-published by Dr. Kevin T. Kavanagh, founder of Health Watch USA. “A functioning public reporting system is desperately needed, as Kentucky’s current reporting system is broken,” wrote Kavanagh.
- Doctor, Did You Check Your Checklist? Source: Kaiser Health News (Monday January 30, 2012)
Article on medical harm in the DC area. The District of Columbia reports on injuries occurring in the city’s hospitals, for example, but doesn’t say at which hospital the problems occurred. The public has a right to information about medical harm that is hospital-specific. Article includes tips by Consumer Reports and Dr. Peter Pronovost on how to stay safe in the hospital.
- Video: Toxic Megacolon Superbug Source: YouTube (Tuesday February 8, 2011)
Video on MRSA and C. diff superbugs found in U.S. retail meat posted by NutritionFacts.org
- Infections Strike Kids in ICUs: Report Source: ABC News (Thursday January 26, 2012)
Consumer Reports: The risk of a serious bloodstream infection contracted in hospitals is 20 percent higher in pediatric intensive care units. More than half of the nation’s pediatric ICUs don’t make their infection data public. This is a very important issue for parents; patients have a right to know information about infections.
- Hospitals' Infection Numbers Flawed Source: Colorado Public Radio (Tuesday January 24, 2012)
CO hospitals’ infection rates checked for first time. Infections under-reported by 33.9%.
- Calif. hospital infection rates look low, but may be incomplete Source: UT San Diego (Wednesday January 18, 2012)
California’s recent public reports on central-line associated hospital infections reflect rates nearly 50 percent lower than the national average, but the latest reports might reveal only half or more of infections cropping up in California. That is why validation of data is essential to getting accurate information out to the public, said Lisa McGiffert, director of Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project.
Research and Reports
- Influenza Vaccination Among Health Care Personnel In California General Acute Care Hospitals For The 2010-11 Respiratory Season
California Department of Public Health: 60.4% of California healthcare workers got vaccinated during the 2010-2011 flu season.
- Adverse Events in Hospitals: Medicare's Responses to Alleged Serious Events
Medicare hospital oversight failed to address serious medical errors such as medication and surgical errors, physical abuse by hospital staff, and patient suicide.
- Control of Health-Care--Associated Infections, 1961--2011
CDC’s overview of the history of U.S. hospital infection control from 1961 to 2011.
- The Joint Comission responds to coalition of patient safety consumer groups regarding The Joint Comission's complaint process
Response letter from The Joint Commission President, Mark Chassin, to patient safety advocates who called on the organization earlier this month to improve responsiveness to patient complaints.
- ResistanceMap: Expanded, Updated, and Interactive
ResistanceMap – an online tool for visualizing antibiotic resistance from Extending the Cure – launches a second edition today with more bacteria-antibiotic combinations, U.S.-Canada-Europe comparisons of resistance trends, and lots of opportunities to interact with the data.
- Tennessee Center for Patient Safety Annual Report 2010
TN Hospital Association’s Center for Patient Safety Report indicates reduction of hospital-acquired infections in 2010.
- Consumer groups seek Senator Harkin to help in making Medicare accreditation surveys public
Patient safety consumer groups, including Consumers Union, seek Senator Harkin to help in making Medicare accreditation surveys public.
- Consumer groups call on The Joint Commission to improve responsiveness to patient complaints
A coalition of patient safety consumer groups, including Consumers Union, wrote a letter to the Joint Commission to improve responsiveness to patient complaints.
- CDC: Rates of C-difficile Infection Among Hospitalized Patients 65 and older
” From 1996 to 2009, C. difficile rates for hospitalized persons aged ≥65 years increased 200%”
- Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority Provides Analysis and Data-Driven Prevention Strategies to Reduce Central-Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSI)
Patient safety information from the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Advisory on prevention strategies for reducing and/or eliminating central-line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) based on 2010 data submitted by PA hospitals.
Activists
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.
Kathy of Bangor, Maine
Dr. Hallisy is committed to and passionate about the subjects of patient safety, health care reform and medical error reduction. Her personal and professional goals include working diligently to help give patients a voice in healthcare solutions.
Julia of San Francisco, California
On Halloween night 2004, Ann Marie Robinson of California spent the night in the local hospital. “I came out the next day with Clostridium Difficile, something worse than what sent me there in the first place,” she says. Frustrated with the hospital’s response to her problems, she wrote a letter to the editor of the local newspaper last year seeking other people in the same situation. Within 3 days, 46 people had called, and so she created “Infection Connection”…
Ann Marie of Chico, California
In Connecticut we worked with Jean Rexford of the Connecticut Center for Patient Safety and individual activists who testified at public hearings and citizen activists who wrote their legislators to push for the passage of SB 160, making hospital infection rates public. Ms. Rexford is the Executive Director of both Connecticut Patients Rights (CPR) and the Connecticut Center for Patient Safety.
Jean of Redding, Connecticut
Stories about Hospital Acquired Infections
I had spinal decompression, laminectomy and 3 level lumbar fusion, performed by 2 neurosurgeons at the largest hospital in my state. Four days after discharge to my home 75 miles away, I started to have a fever and pussy discharge from main incision. I was admitted to local hospital which did appropriate cultures, finding that I had M.R.S.A, a potentially deadly infection.
Barbara of South Burlington, Vermont
My pregnancy was completely normal and everything seemed perfect. Charlee was my husband’s only child and his pride and joy.
Kimberly of Rocklin, California
In November 2006, following a medical procedure, I came down with a 104 fever with an extreme headache. Informing the doctor of my symptoms, I was told I had probably caught a ‘flu bug’ and to wait it out until my post-op appointment two weeks later.
Tracey of Oceanside, California
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.
Kathy of Bangor, Maine
My father received the hip surgery in the beginning of November 2007. The doctor was only going to repair the old replaced hip. As it was, he replaced the hip and the doctor used shorter screws and the ball fell out, but the doctor and staff never brought my Dad to x-ray to follow up because he is old.
Cheryl of Sun City, Arizona
Antibiotic Resistance
Extending the Cure tracks changes in antibiotic resistance levels across regions of the United States, covering common bacteria-drug combinations. The ResistanceMap tells a story of growing resistance to commonly used antibiotics and identifies regional differences in resistance levels.
To Delay is Deadly
98,000 people die each year needlessly because of preventable medical harm. Efforts to reduce this are few and fragmented. With little transparency and no public reporting (except where hard fought state laws now require it), scarce data does not paint a picture of real progress.
In this report (PDF) we give the country a failing grade on progress on select recommendations we believe necessary to create a health-care system free of preventable medical harm.