Patient safety is one of the nation's most pressing health care challenges. A 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine estimates that as many as 44,000 to 98,000 people die in U.S. hospitals each year as the result of lapses in patient safety.
There are things you can do to help yourself get safer health care. Some are as simple as making sure that when you are in the hospital your wristband has the right name on it. Other ways to reduce risks are:
- Ask questions if you have doubts or concerns. Take a relative or friend to help you ask questions and understand answers
- Make sure you understand what will happen if you need surgery
- Tell your health care providers about all the medicines you take, including over-the-counter drugs and dietary supplements, and any allergies or bad reactions to anesthesia
- Get a second opinion about treatment options
- Keep a copy of your own health history
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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Five Steps to Safer Health Care(Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) - http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/5steps.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/cincorec.pdf
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Medical Errors: Tips to Help Prevent Them(American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/healthy/safety/safety/736.printerview.html
Also available in Spanish http://familydoctor.org/online/famdoces/home/healthy/safety/safety/736.printerview.html
- Questions Are the Answer: Get More Involved with Your Health Care(Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) - http://www.ahrq.gov/questionsaretheanswer/index.html
- What You Can Do to Make Healthcare Safer(National Patient Safety Foundation) - Links to PDF - http://www.npsf.org/download/WhatYouCanDo.pdf
- Hospital Label No Guarantee of Better Weight Surgery(04/20/2009, Reuters Health) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_83154.html
- High Rate of Rehospitalizations Costing Billions(04/01/2009, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_82423.html
- Injected Medication Errors a Major Problem(03/12/2009, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_81641.html
- 10-State Project to Study Methods to Reduce Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections in Hospital ICUs(02/19/2009, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) - http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2009/clabsipr.htm
- Check Your Medicines(Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) - http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/checkmeds.htm
- Safety as You Go from Hospital to Home(National Patient Safety Foundation) - Links to PDF - http://www.npsf.org/download/SafetyAsYouGo.pdf
- Speak Up: Help Avoid Mistakes with Your Medicines(Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) - Links to PDF - http://www.jointcommission.org/NR/rdonlyres/BF7973E4-BCEC-42E1-BB59-7D7D207D4870/0/speakup_brochure_meds.pdf
- Speak Up: Help Prevent Errors in Your Care: Ambulatory Care(Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) - Links to PDF - http://www.jointcommission.org/NR/rdonlyres/521A4523-B6CC-4A8C-8987-3AF95DC5EE1D/0/speakup_amb.pdf
- Speak Up: Help Prevent Errors in Your Care: Behavioral Health Care(Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) - Links to PDF - http://www.jointcommission.org/NR/rdonlyres/3DC5AABA-B11E-44F7-8F69-2B0767E27BAE/0/speakup_bhc.pdf
- Speak Up: Help Prevent Errors in Your Care: Home Care(Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) - Links to PDF - http://www.jointcommission.org/NR/rdonlyres/E60D6D13-3001-45D3-A7C5-62FE6C5BEB8B/0/speakup_hc.pdf
- Speak Up: Help Prevent Errors in Your Care: Laboratory Services(Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) - Links to PDF - http://www.jointcommission.org/NR/rdonlyres/746064F5-93C9-4454-9492-659696237F15/0/speakup_lab.pdf
- Speak Up: Help Prevent Errors in Your Care: Long Term Care(Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) - Links to PDF - http://www.jointcommission.org/NR/rdonlyres/3E56FEA5-75C1-4C9D-95CD-BA1366649658/0/speakup_ltc.pdf
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Be Prepared for Medical Appointments(Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) - http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/beprepared.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/bepreparedsp.htm
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Report a Complaint about a Health Care Organization(Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) - http://www.jointcommission.org/GeneralPublic/Complaint/
Also available in Spanish http://www.jointcommission.org/GeneralPublic/Complaint/sp_complaint.htm
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Effect of Drug Concentration Expression on Epinephrine Dosing Errors(American College of Physicians) - Links to PDF - http://www.annals.org/cgi/reprint/148/1/I-30.pdf
- National Healthcare Quality & Disparities Reports 2007(Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) - http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/qrdr07.htm
References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Tracking itinerant patients and surgical sponges. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19364776&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Practising safely in the foundation years. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19346284&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: The effect of computerized physician order entry on medication prescription... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19336379&tool=MedlinePlus
- Patient Safety -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=((safety+management[majr]+AND+hospitals[mh])+OR+medical+errors/pc[majr])+AND+humans[mh]+AND+english[la]+AND+(jsubsetk[text]+OR+patient+education+handout[pt]+OR+review[pt]+OR+guideline[pt]+OR+clinical+trial[pt]+OR+jsubsetaim[text]+OR+jsubsetn[text])+NOT+(editorial[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt]+OR+letter[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality - http://www.ahrq.gov/
- Joint Commission(Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) - http://www.jointcommission.org/
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20 Tips to Help Prevent Medical Errors in Children(Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) - http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/20tipkid.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/20tkidsp.pdf
- Patient Rights - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/patientrights.html
- Health System - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/healthsystem.html
- Personal Health Issues - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/personalhealthissues.html
Patient Safety - Multiple Languages - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/patientsafety.html