LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- A new study released today by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Health and Human Services, found that one in seven Medicare patients in the hospital were harmed by the care they received.
In a single month, the report estimated that 134,000 Medicare patients were subjected to at least one adverse event. The most common problems were those related to medication errors, substandard care, and lack of patient monitoring and assessment. http://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-06-09-00090.pdf
Martine Ehrenclou, M.A., patient advocate and author of the multiple award winning, Critical Conditions: The Essential Hospital Guide To Get Your Loved One Out Alive, states, "It is essential that a hospitalized patient enlist the help of a loved one to act as his or her advocate to oversee and monitor care. Many of these 'never events' could be prevented with an advocate acting as a watchdog for the patient."
Ehrenclou created "The Patient Safety Checklist" for patients and their families to prevent medical errors such as medication mistakes, patient name mistakes, patient neglect, the spread of hospital infections and many others. http://www.criticalconditions.com/Patient-Safety-Checklist.pdf
Critical Conditions, (Lemon Grove Press), is a book about how to be a proactive advocate for a hospitalized loved one to prevent medical errors, medication mistakes, the spread of hospital infections and more. This guide instructs readers how to prevent many of the mistakes released in the new OIG study. Ehrenclou said, "Keeping hospitalized patients safe is a collaborative effort. Patients' loved ones must work in collaboration with the hospital medical staff to help avert these errors."
For more information: www.CriticalConditions.com
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CONTACT:
Lemon Grove Press
Martine Ehrenclou, (310) 458-6047
[email protected]
KEYWORDS: United States North America California
INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Health Hospitals Infectious Diseases Communications Publishing Nursing
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