Living Well Picture yourself and three of your loved ones in your head...
Chances are, one of you will end up being harmed at the very place you went to be healed.
That's according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine last year. The study took a random sample of 2,809 patients hospitalized in 2018 at 11 different Massachusetts hospitals.
Researchers found that 23.6% of patients experienced at least one adverse event harmful to their health. And get this... 22.7% of the 978 adverse events could have been prevented, along with one of the seven deaths.
In other words, these negative outcomes are human error – from the folks looking after you as you're lying in a hospital bed.
Medication-related problems accounted for the majority of the adverse events. Other reasons included problems arising from the doctor's treatment or surgery, nursing-care events (such as falls), and/or health care-associated infections ("HAIs").
It's scary to think about how you or a loved one could easily fall ill or die at the hands that try to heal you.
While you can't prevent negligence or understaffing, you can do your research to help you find the best care possible for your ailment and to even avoid becoming a statistic.
So today, I want to review some of the things you should do before and after setting foot in a hospital. Of course, this isn't always an option if it's an emergency. But for most situations, you should...
Research the hospital.
You'll want to do a little bit of homework on the hospital and look at the facility's track record for keeping its patients safe...
I recommend checking out U.S. News & World Report's annual list of its top hospitals in the U.S. The publication has been at it for decades with its best hospital rankings and ratings. It looks at data such as survival rates for procedures, number of beds, staffing, and medical errors and oversights. You can find its ratings based on area here. It also ranks the best hospitals via specialty.
Medicare.gov also offers a hospital comparison tool. The breadth of data is larger and includes payments and value of care. Take a look at the closest hospitals to you, right here.
Twice a year, an independent nonprofit called the Leapfrog Group grades nearly 3,000 general hospitals based on how safe you'll be from medical errors, accidents, injuries, and infections.
The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade uses about 30 different performance measures (like handwashing practices and nursing-staff availability) from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, as well as other data like surveys. One caveat, though, is that not all hospitals answer the surveys. Start searching right here. Leapfrog will likely update its grades again this November.
In 2019, the group teamed up with Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality to analyze letter-graded hospitals and their patient outcomes. The white paper found that a stay at a D- or F-grade hospital almost doubled your risk of dying early. It also found that more than 50,000 lives could be saved each year if lower-grade hospitals were to improve on patient safety measures to match those of the top, A-grade hospitals.
If you're curious – or perhaps trying to figure out where to retire – you can see how different states and metropolitan areas rank in terms of patient safety right here.
Research your doctor.
The right doctor can mean the difference between life and death. Courts file about 85,000 lawsuits for medical malpractice every year in the U.S. But according to Stanford University, the worst 1% of surgeons are responsible for nearly a third of all malpractice claims.
As I've advised before, ask your surgeon for a printout of their statistics. They should keep them on a computer... If not, run out of the office. In addition, check their status with the American Board of Medical Specialties. Your doctor should be up to date on their exams and certified in surgery. You can find that right here.
You can also search by state for criminal convictions and malpractice claims against your surgeon. Go here to learn more.
Once you've been admitted to the hospital...
Speak up (or bring a loved one who can speak for you) and ask questions if you're worried about the care you're receiving or unclear on the treatment.
Make sure that the area you're having surgery on is physically marked.
Make sure to let your doctors and nurses know of every medication and supplement you take on a regular basis.
And as you're recovering... keep an eye on hand hygiene, and make sure every caregiver you interact with is cleaning their hands.
One in 31 patients becomes infected with an HAI. Common HAIs preventable through handwashing include:
- Infections of the wound or surgical site
- C. diff infection that causes severe diarrhea and has a 15% to 30% recurrence rate
- Antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections like MRSA that can result in blood poisoning, needing amputation, and/or death
- Infections due to improper handling of catheters and IV lines
Your doctors and nurses should be cleaning their hands with soap and water (or a 20-second rubdown using alcohol-based hand sanitizer) before and after coming into contact with you and your surroundings.
You need to remain vigilant about folks washing their hands when entering your hospital room. Similarly, if you have any concerns about cleanliness... ask. It's always better to be overcautious than to risk infection.
And don't worry about coming off as too demanding, either. It's your life that's in their hands. And remember, the only person who will really take care of you... is you.
One of the most common reasons for hospital admissions is a condition affecting almost 7 million Americans: heart failure. And it's a common complication of myocardial infarction, or a heart attack. Check out my Retirement Millionaire issue on what to do if you think you or a loved one is having a heart attack – or subscribe here to get access.
What We're Reading...
- Something different: How Manila's poorest turn meat from the garbage into meals.
Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
August 13, 2024