Patient Safety Blog

Alisa Miller at Nursing Online Education Database has an article on how to start taking control of your health records. "Taking control" in this case means storing, updating and sharing them in a way that is convenient for you.

The article is chock-full of useful links on the following subjects:

-what are the options for electronic health records, how they work and how you can use them

-which resources for medical record storage are available for free

-which resources for medical record storage are available, but charge money

-which services are available for people with specialized illnesses or needs

-which services are available for health care professionals

Checking the article out and browsing the links would be very helpful for anyone interested in learning more about these topics. Getting and reading your own medical records is a key step in making sure you receive high quality medical care.

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Posted In: Medical Records

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Larry Ragan, a man who spent a great deal of time around doctors before dying of Lou Gehrig's disease, made a list of suggestions for hospital workers, regarding how they can improve their treatment of patients.

Much of the advice centers around basic respect. Don't condescend to a patient by using their first name without permission, for instance. Don't put patients in skimpy and revealing robes: that puts the convenience of the nurse or doctor above the comfort of the patient.

The entire article is worth reading, including the comments from readers at the bottom.

Posted by Patrick A. Malone | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Standard of Care--Hospitals

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A new study from the American College of Emergency Physicians shows that scarcity of beds and a decrease in the number of hospitals with mental health units has led to long emergency room waits for psychiatric patients.

As the article points out, almost eighty percent of hospitals have a four-hour wait for mentally ill patients. By contrast, for non-psychiatric ailments, only thirty percent of hospitals have a four-hour wait.

From the article:

Only half of the hospitals surveyed had psychiatric units. The rest transferred patients, sometimes far from homes and families. Hospitals are closing their units because of inadequate payments from government and insurers, unpaid costs for the uninsured and too few psychiatrists willing to work in hospitals, says James Bentley of the American Hospital Association.

Patients with mental illness "are the ones we hold the longest because there are so few psychiatric services available, and the ones that are available are overwhelmed," says David Mendelson, of the physicians group.

If you or someone you know has a psychiatric problem, you should be aware of this issue and be prepared for a lack of support in the event of an emergency.

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Posted In: Standard of Care--Hospitals

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Tara Parker-Pope at the New York Times has an article on how to detect ovarian cancer early.

Ovarian cancer is usually detected in its late stages, when it is the least treatable. Early signs of ovarian cancer exist, but are very common and easily mistaken for other problem. For example, difficulty eating, or increased abdominal size, or feeling full after eating very little can all be signs of ovarian cancer--or of other, less serious ailments.

A new study, described in the article, finds that six key symptoms combined with a blood test can increase early detection of ovarian cancer by 20 percent. Those six symptoms are pelvic pain, abdominal pain, bloating, increased abdominal size, difficulty eating and feeling full quickly. The lead author of the study points out that any new and frequent occurrence of these symptoms may be reason for further testing.

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Posted In: Cancer

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Researchers at Dartmouth University have found striking regional differences in quality of health care. In addition, within any given region, black people are less likely to receive the appropriate health care than white people.

But region was the strongest factor that affected quality of health care. From the article:

For instance, the widest racial gaps in mammogram rates within a state were in California and Illinois, with a difference of 12 percentage points between the white rate and the black rate. But the country’s lowest rate for blacks — 48 percent in California — was 24 percentage points below the highest rate — 72 percent in Massachusetts. The statistics were for women ages 65 to 69 who received screening in 2004 or 2005.

In all but two states, black diabetics were less likely than whites to receive annual hemoglobin testing. But blacks in Colorado (66 percent) were far less likely to be screened than those in Massachusetts (88 percent).

What causes these differences? The researchers suggest that multiple factors are at work:

Such variations may be partly explained by regional differences in education and poverty levels, but researchers increasingly believe that variations in medical practice and spending also are factors.

The most extreme disparities, as the article notes, concern some important and even life-altering procedures. For instance, people in Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina are much more likely to have their legs amputated (usually as a result of diabetes or vascular disease) than those in Colorado or Nevada, and black people in those regions are much more likely to undergo amputation than whites. Also, access to mammograms sharply varies according to region.

Posted by Patrick A. Malone | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Accessibility of Healthcare , Standard of Care--Hospitals

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The American College of Sports Medicine suggested at a recent conference that walking is the most effective form of exercise because of its accessibility and simplicity.

From the article:

"There are certainly many forms of cardiovascular exercise that improve health and fitness, such as running, cycling, and swimming," said Catrine Tudor-Locke, Ph.D., FACSM, one of the session leaders. "But from the perspective of finding a great exercise program for the most number of people, walking is the best bang for your buck."

A good way to keep track of how much you walk, the article points out, is using a reasonably-priced pedometer. One of the greatest barriers to exercise is cost and convenience: maintaining a gym membership and making the time to go to the gym is expensive and can be inconvenient. Walking eliminates the cost problem, if not the issue of time.

Posted by Patrick A. Malone | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: General

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Previously, this blog has discussed the contaminated heparin (a blood-thinning medication) found in the U.S. and linked to deaths and injuries.

Now the Food and Drug Administration has received reports of deaths tied to medical devices that use heparin, although they are not currently sure whether the heparin in these devices is contaminated.

From the article:

The FDA said the majority of the adverse events, which occurred from Jan. 1 to May 14, were associated with the use of heparin-lock flush solutions but also include heparin-coated oxygenators and circuits used during cardiopulmonary bypass procedures.

Posted by Patrick A. Malone | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Medications

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