(Snippets from the frontline)
Bring accountability to your hospital stay
You or your loved one has been hospitalized. For most, this is an unfamiliar road. Beware, as nowadays hospitals are run like drive-thru restaurants.
My advice: Bring with you a yellow legal pad and either you or a family member take notes. Write down everyone’s name you come in contact with, and ask for business cards from any medical consultants. Make sure you identify the role everyone is playing in your care, from those cleaning your room to the surgeon making an incision.
Ask for and write down lab and test results, and make sure there is one physician “quarterback” running the show and answering all questions (known as the “Attending Doctor”).
Believe me, if a drive-thru forgets your french fries, you will let them know. Hospitalization means your health is in jeopardy.
Making the hospital accountable enhances your chance of going home.
Gene Uzawa Dorio, M.D.
This is an amazing fact. Your health and that of your family is very important just like your money is, to the hospital corporation.
Great idea! Thank you
Cam & Jerry
Since the mid-1970s, I have demanded that a relative or close friend be in the room with my hospitalized patient 24/7 to protect them from the unknown.
As health care errors caused about 40,000 patient deaths in 1980 and have produced about 440,000 patient deaths in both 2015 and 2016, patients and their families need to be vigilant.