hospital safety

Published on: November 27, 2020

Fall Prevention Toolkit helps Prevent Hospital Injuries

Normally when you go to a hospital, you believe you will leave better after treatment. The last thing on your mind is getting hurt in an accident while being treated at a hospital. However, fall accidents in hospitals are a leading cause of patient injuries in a hospital. Researchers recently analyzed the results of the use of a specially designed fall prevention toolkit among hospital patients, and found that the use of the toolkit significantly helped reduce the risk of fall accidents in the hospital as well as injuries sustained as a result of these accidents.

The study was conducted by researchers who tested a special toolkit that they designed specifically to prevent hospital fall accidents, and included a number of items, including a poster that is designed to be displayed by the side of a patient bed. The toolkit also includes specifically designed prevention plans that can possibly be integrated into electronic health records, and displayed on computer screens.

The researchers tested the usefulness of the toolkit in helping reduce the risk of fall accidents, among 37,000 patients between 2015 and 2016. They found that the implementation of the toolkit directly resulted in a 15% drop in the number of patient falls recorded in these hospitals. It also directly contributed to a 34% reduction in the number of injuries that were sustained in these fall accidents.

Published on: February 21, 2018

Georgia Hospitals Rank at the Bottom of the List In Patient Safety

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

In a 2017 report from Leapfrog Group, Georgia hospitals were listed near the bottom of the list at 40 out of 49 when it comes to patient safety. On the bright side, 14 Georgia hospitals were rated “A, ” and none of Georgia hospitals received an “F” rating.

The Leapfrog rankings are based on hospital performance in the prevention of medical errors, injuries and infections. As part of the report, grades were assigned to more than 2,600 hospitals across the country. Grades were assigned from “A” to “F,” and approximately 1/3^rd of the hospitals were graded as “A.” Leapfrog also handed out more than 660 “B” grades, 964 “C” grades and 159 “D” grades. 15 hospitals were rated “F. “

According to Leapfrog, errors, accidents, infections and injuries are some of the leading causes of injuries and fatalities in American hospitals, and patients deserve to know how the hospitals in their neighborhoods performed on important patient safety parameters.

Published on: January 25, 2018

Stress is a Major Factor in Emergency Room Medical Errors

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Medical errors are one the leading causes of death in the United States, and accounts for about 250,000 deaths per year. That number is almost half the population of the City of Atlanta. In fact, it is estimated that about one third of the people admitted to a hospital will fall victim to a medical error.

Stressed-out doctors are at a great risk of making errors in the emergency room where even the smallest error can translate into a fatal mistake. Managing stress effectively is critical to reducing these risks.

A new study by the BMJ Open finds that the risk of errors increases with the stress level of doctors in the emergency room. In the study, researchers obtained blood and saliva samples of 20 residents working in an emergency room. They analyzed the samples which were obtained both before and after the emergency room shifts to understand the stress levels of the doctors. They also questioned the doctors about the number of patients they treated, the number of errors made, and the number of “near-miss” incidents they experienced. A “near-miss” incident was defined as an act of omission that could possibly cause harm to patients.

Published on: January 4, 2012

Lack of Transparency in Georgia Hospital Safety Records Concerns Medical Malpractice Lawyers

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

While other states around the country have ushered in an era of transparency in hospital safety information, making important safety records easily available to the public, the state of Georgia has lagged behind.The state has strict restrictions on public accessibility to information on aspects of patient safety that include patient suicides, sexual assaults that occur in a hospital and surgical errors.There is very limited access to such information.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is using the case of twenty-seven-year-old Matthew Reese to illustrate the point that Georgia’s hospitals need to be more forthcoming about offering information to the public.Reese died in September this year, committing suicide by hanging himself from a hospital bed sheet.He was a transsexual, and had been admitted to the SummitRidge Hospital in Lawrenceville.Friends say that he had been talking about taking his own life.Georgia State officials are expected to investigate whether mistakes made by SummitRidge Hospital contributed to Reese’s death.

However, Atlanta medical malpractice lawyers and patient safety groups will not be able to access the results of the inquiry or its conclusions.The atmosphere of secrecy that surrounds hospitals in Georgia is in marked contrast to that around the country.

Published on: September 1, 2011

Are Georgia Hospitals Safe?: Lack of Information and the Safety of Georgia Hospitals

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

When we go to the hospital, we go to receive treatment and care, not to contract a possibly life threatening illness. However, the reality is that not only can a hospital be a place of healing, but it is also a hot bed for germs, illness, and infections. Because of this reality, more than half of the states require a public report to be made regarding the infections patients pick up while under to care of hospitals. This is necessary so that patients can make informed decisions about where to seek medical treatment and avoid the possibility of falling victim to medical malpractice. This is also necessary to insure that a state’s hospitals are all in suitable condition to treat patients, and are not threats to public health or safety.

However, as the Atlanta Journal Constitution highlights, in the state of Georgia, no such report is required to be made by hospitals. According to Holly Long, director of the Hospital Accountability Project at Georgia Watch, “This (requiring that hospitals provide reports regarding infection rates) should be something the state does for its consumers. [A hospital’s] infection rate should not be [its] dirty little secret.”

Although state law requires that Georgia hospitals notify public health officials when they have an outbreakof, or identify, the presence of serious infectious conditions such as tuberculosis, Georgia hospitals are not required to report the most common infections patients pick up while under treatment, despite the fact that some of these infections are life threatening.According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around 1 in 20 hospitalized patients will contract an infection while receiving care. Despite this fact, according to a recent article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, it is not possible for public health officials or patients to identify which conditions or hospitals pose the greatest threat to Georgians.

Published on: December 15, 2009

Are Hospital Surveillance Systems the New Frontier in Patient Safety

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

As Atlanta medical malpractice lawyers, we closely follow advancements in patient safety. With the healthcare debate focusing strongly on medical malpractice lawsuits, hospitals are seeing a great need to cut down on the errors and medical infections that occur in their facilities. A new report by the American Medical Association shows that surveillance systems could be the next big thing in patient safety, helping enforce safety rules and preventing the incidence of preventable errors and infections.

Surveillance of surgeons was in the media spotlight last month, when a Rhode Island hospital was ordered to have video and audio recording devices installed in the operating rooms. The state’s health department ordered the Rhode Island Hospital to install the cameras, after a series of 5 surgical errors occurred at the facility in just two years. These errors were wrong site surgeries, which are some of the most preventable medical errors.

While surgeons at Rhode Island Hospital will now have video cameras recording their surgical moves, doctors in Maryland hospitals could soon have “secret shoppers” hired by the hospital observing their hand hygiene practices. Low hand hygiene compliance rates have been a source of worry to Atlanta medical malpractice lawyers. Poor hand washing practices contribute to thousands of hospital-acquired infections every year. It’s these infection rates that Maryland hospitals are looking to cut with the program that funds hospitals to train people to observe whether doctors, nurses and other staff wash their hands when they come out of a patient’s room. These “secret shoppers” will be trained to blend into the environment, so they don’t stand out and alert doctors they are being watched.

Published on: August 31, 2009

Hospital Cleanliness Still Major Issue

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about a million people contract a hospital infection each year. A Consumer Reports survey provides clues to why those rates are so high.

In 2008, Consumer Reports surveyed 731 nurses, and this year, sampled more than 13,500 of its readers, who were polled about recent hospital experiences involving them or a loved one. The findings were surprising.

28 percent of nurses reported problems with cleanliness, while only 4 percent of patients reported so.

Published on: April 25, 2009

Augusta Patient Among HIV Positive After Medical Errors at VA Hospital

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The Department of Veteran Affairs has confirmed that three patients who were tested at three of its facilities have tested positive for the HIV virus, including one patient from Augusta, Georgia. The two other patients are reportedly from Murfreesboro in Tennessee and Miami.

These patients got tested for HIV after the Veteran Affairs Department asked more than 10,000 people to get tested for HIV, and Hepatitis B and C because of the risk of contamination from tainted endoscopic equipment. The equipment was used in colonoscopies in Murfreesboro and Miami, and also at an ENT clinic in Augusta. Besides, the department has also confirmed that six people have tested positive for hepatitis B, and nineteen have tested positive for Hepatitis C at these three sites. The VA however does not have evidence that these exposures occurred because of botched medical procedures at the VA facilities.

The problem apparently lay in faulty sterilization of equipment, and dates back more than 5 years, at least at the Miami and Murfressboro hospitals. The agency undertook a nationwide safety training campaign which ended on March 14^th. By April 3^rd, the VA had already confirmed that one person had tested positive for HIV. According to the VA, the number of people who may be at “a very small risk of harm” at the ENT facility in Augusta, is 1,069. The agency has made arrangements for veterans who have tested positive for the disease to receive counseling. There is no information forthcoming on how serious the problem is. Meanwhile, anxious veterans who have used Augusta facilities are waiting their test results.

Published on: January 14, 2008

Accident Injury Patients Suffer as Grady Hospital in Critical Condition

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

January 14, 2008

The Georgia General Assembly begins its 2008 session today. Constitutionally, the legislature is charged with approving a budget for the state. One critical item on this year’s agenda must be saving cash-strapped Grady Memorial Hospital, which is in critical condition.

Grady Memorial Hospital (“Grady”), in the heart of downtown Atlanta, serves 850,000 outpatients a year and admits 30,000 inpatients. It is the only Level One Trauma Center in north Georgia, and it provides the city of Atlanta’s only emergency ambulance fleet. In addition to treating accident victims, Grady has the state’s only poison center and has an esteemed burn center. Serious accident victims are often transferred to Grady for care.