In a report issued by the Institute of Medicine, it was estimated that as many as 98,000 patients die each year because they are victims of medical errors. Patients in Ohio are not immune to medical errors. While compensation can work to cover medical expenses and losses after the fact, educating patients to be proactive may decrease this staggering statistic. Patients should find themselves an advocate that will aid in ensuring the patient receives the best possible care. Below is a patient survival list for the advocate to follow:
• Know the procedure through and through. The patient and advocate should educate themselves on the procedure, on the recovery, on the doctor performing the procedure, on the risks and on the benefits.
• The advocate should maintain a detailed journal of the patient's medications, test results, received procedures, vital signs, phone numbers of family members and questions for health care providers.
• The advocate should set up a time to review the patient's medical records while in the hospital to be a bridge of knowledge between all health care providers dealing with the patient. This will also alert the advocate to any signs of disagreement between care givers.
• The advocate should take precautionary measures to avoid infections. This includes sanitizing with wipes high-touch areas, such as remotes, dividing curtains and bed rails, and ensuring the doctor washes their hands.
• Finally, the advocate should always be sure to repeat essential information — aliments, needs, resuscitation orders and allergies — and never assume a doctor knows the patient's full history.
In most cases, patients trust their doctors. Patients want to believe that their doctor is 100 percent confident in providing accurate care. This blissful belief is not always reality and patients in Ohio and elsewhere need to provide themselves an advocate that will fight for the patient's proper care.
Source: The CT Mirror, "A patient survival guide, from a mother who learned too late," Arielle Levine Becker, Mar. 8, 2012