Pennsylvania residents who need to undergo surgery can understandably be nervous. This nervous feeling may relate to many things from concerns about what may be discovered during an operation to medical errors that may be made in the process. While no patient wants to think about the potential of becoming the victim of medical negligence, […]
When you or a family member in Pennsylvania becomes sick or injured, the last thing you should have to worry about is the safety of your medical care. However, in today’s society, this concern is a valid one. Many a medical error has been known to leave patients with serious injuries. In some cases, patients […]
From kitchens and warehouses to industrial plants and office settings, the simple reality is that no single place of employment is immune to breakdowns in communication. However, while breakdowns can be time-consuming and inefficient, the fallout from something like a misplaced order or a failure to complete a report on time is generally limited in […]
Many people may be surprised to learn that the American Medical Association has taken a rather firm position on the degree of difficulty with which patient health information — discharge instructions, etc. — should be drafted. Indeed, the AMA is of the belief that this information should be written for a sixth grade audience. While […]
As patients, physicians and lawmakers look ahead to the issues that will most critically impact patient safety in 2016, it is important to obtain a firm grasp on the issues that most significantly impacted patient safety in 2015. Not only will reviewing these issues give patients, physicians and lawmakers insight into matters that may continue […]
In the past, our blog has discussed how many hospital systems have introduced programs enabling patients and physicians to sit down and talk in a constructive atmosphere in the wake of a serious medical mistake, and how the majority of states, including Pennsylvania, have now passed so-called “doctor apology” laws. Interestingly enough, this push toward […]
Thanks to television and movies, many people believe that the act of fainting is nothing too serious and, if anything, an experience to share a laugh over once the person has recovered. While it’s true that many fainting episodes ultimately prove to be harmless, experts warn that medical professionals must not be too dismissive of […]
A recently released report by the Institute of Medicine, a division of the National Academy of Science, indicates that while many of the patient safety initiatives undertaken here in the U.S. focus on issues like surgical errors, medication mistakes and other types of harm in hospital settings, there is at least one major medical danger that […]
If you make the life-altering decision to undergo a major operation, it goes without saying that you have complete trust in your surgeon. Indeed, you trust in their abilities, you trust in their medical knowledge, and you trust in their communicating all pertinent information. As such, when the unthinkable happens and you suffer significant — […]
Last time, we started discussing how a group of Canadian researchers recently published a study in the New England Journal of Medicine examining the impact of sleep deprivation on surgical performance and how its findings are contrary to those made in what is now considered a landmark 2009 study by American researchers. In today’s post, […]
