Archive: Patient Safety

A defective medical device is a product with a manufacturing or design defect, or a product that becomes dangerous because of a marketing defect such as insufficient instructions or warnings. When a medical device causes unreasonable risk of physical harm…

Everyone knows smartphones are one of modern life’s leading distractions. But what if that distraction were in the hands of a surgeon or other members of the medical team in the operating room? An article in The Atlantic explores how…

Two newly launched websites could give prospective surgery patients more information about surgeons’ outcomes, helping them reduce the risk of a preventable surgical error during their own procedures, according to a recent Fierce Healthcare article. At SurgeonRatings.org, patients can search…

Nurses often staff the frontlines of patient care. They are the first ones called when a patient or family member notices a problem, and they are the first ones who can often identify if a problem exists or if something…

According to a recently released study by The Leapfrog Group, 40 percent of U.S. hospitals do not follow all of the endorsed safe practices for supporting their nursing staffs. The news is sobering for healthcare facilities and medical malpractice attorneys…

Fifteen years ago an Institute of Medicine Report drew attention to the epidemic of hospital-related harm when it reported that as many as 98,000 patients per year died from preventable medical errors. Last year a new analysis published in the…

Consumer advocates and medical specialists testifying before the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging on July 17 delivered a somber assessment of patient safety. One physician contended that patients are not significantly safer today than they were 15 years…

The Emergency Care Research Institute, an organization of hospitals, insurers and others, releases an annual list of the top technology hazards. The hazards include medical devices and technologies that could harm patients if not used properly. At the top of the…

High rates of hospital re-admissions not only inflate health-care costs but also compromise patient safety. A number of efforts have been aimed at reducing re-admissions. One such effort, the State Action on Avoidable Re-hospitalizations Initiative, is seeking to cut the rate of hospital re-admissions in Michigan, Washington,…

Although most of us would like to believe that all hospital patients receive equal medical treatment regardless of the types of insurance they have, that may not be the case. A new study suggests that patients with “better” insurance plans are more…