Organ donation fulfills an important medical need, and donated organs have saved the lives of millions in New York and across the country. But organs are only life-saving if they are viable and free of infectious disease. If not, a donated organ can be lethal to the recipient. It is up to organ procurement organizations […]
In recent years, the media has spent an increasing amount of time and effort reporting on the subject of brain trauma. While significant attention and focus devoted to this issue is necessary and almost certainly appreciated by victims and their families, the sheer volume of media coverage on this issue has left the public exposed […]
If you are planning to have surgery soon, or otherwise find yourself in the hospital, you should make a point to be actively involved in your care. Medical errors continue to be a major problem in U.S. hospitals. These include medication errors, wrong-site surgeries and hospital negligence leading to infections and delayed diagnosis. One way to help […]
When you visit a medical provider you most likely watch them type or write notes as you explain your condition. If you are like most people, you have probably wondered just what is being said about you in your medical record. Most of us may never know. Even though a patient is absolutely entitled to […]
By now almost everyone has heard of the dangers of distracted driving along with the troubling statistics about the number of injuries and deaths the behavior causes. But have you heard about “distracted doctoring”? The New York Times recently reported on this troubling trend going on in many hospitals and clinics. As medical records have […]
Self-Reporting of Medical Errors Leads to False Belief in Improvement
A recent study published by Health Affairs suggests that rather than improving patient safety, health care facilities are underreporting medical errors, skewing statistics that seem to indicate hospitals are becoming a safer place for patients. By misattributing adverse events to a patient’s underlying condition, rather than to a mistake by health care professionals, the study reported that almost […]
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