Who Is the Patient Advocate?
A fast-growing solution is the rise of private patient advocates. The Institute for Healthcare Improvement defines a patient advocate as a “supporter, believer, sponsor, promoter, campaigner, backer, or spokesperson.” This can be a family member or close friend, but it’s increasingly an independent professional who specializes in helping patients and families make sense of their healthcare options.
PEARR: Treating Abuse and Violence Victims, Step by Step
The Dignity Health system, HEAL Trafficking, and the Pacific Survivor Center teamed up to create a tool that could identify and care for victims/survivors of any form of abuse, neglect, or violence, including human trafficking. Together, they published the PEARR Tool, a suite of procedures to guide providers in providing assistance to possible abuse victims.
Mystery Still Swirling Around Acute Flaccid Myelitis
The rare neurological disorder—less than 1 in a million Americans contract AFM annually—mimics polio with weakness in one or more limbs. Some patients have recovered quickly. Paralysis has persisted in others.
Massachusetts Voters Say ‘No’ to Mandatory Nurse-Patient Ratios
For months, the law has been hotly debated. Those in favor said it would improve patient safety and care. Those opposed said it didn’t account for patient acuity and would create a financial burden on hospitals and healthcare systems.
Case Study: Human Trafficking Prevention at Dignity Health
Between 2007 and 2017, the National Human Trafficking Hotline has identified 43,564 human trafficking victims living in the U.S. At least 88% of these victims visit a healthcare provider at least once during their captivity and aren’t recognized as victims, say experts.
Physician Burnout Poses Patient Safety Risk
The meta-analysis of 47 studies, published in the Journal of American Medical Association Internal Medicine, included more than 40,000 physicians.
What a Black Box Warning Can Do for Innovation and Patient Safety
Minimally invasive surgery, from a safety perspective, has been shown to result in shorter hospital stays, faster healing times, and cosmetic benefits associated with less significant scarring.
Guided Reflection: A Strategy to Reduce Patient Falls and Fall-Related Injuries
After reviewing the literature, the team at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa implemented a guided reflection policy to enhance the information shared at Fall Friday Reviews.
This Simple Tool Predicts Readmission Risk for Heart Attack Patients
The risk model, which is detailed in a recent study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, features seven variables that can be scored in as little as five minutes during a patient’s first day of hospital admission.
The Devastating Effects of Silence
In an article published July 2018 in BMJ Quality and Safety, researchers found that in a survey of family members of ICU patients, significantly more than half were hesitant to speak up about possible mistakes, mismatched care goals, confusing or conflicting information, or even inadequate hand hygiene.