Consumer Watch: Ways to be an effective advocate for your own care

The SafeSEAL(TM) antimicrobial soft diaphram slips onto any stethoscope effortlessly. Changed only once a week, SafeSEAL(TM)  helps provide protection against harmful bacteria commonly found on stethoscopes. Available in adult, pediatric and infant sizes. (PRNewsFoto)
The SafeSEAL(TM) antimicrobial soft diaphram slips onto any stethoscope effortlessly. Changed only once a week, SafeSEAL(TM) helps provide protection against harmful bacteria commonly found on stethoscopes. Available in adult, pediatric and infant sizes. (PRNewsFoto)

Okay, so the patient is confident his surgery is necessary and surgeon Dr. Carl Cutter is the best around to ensure a successful operation. Frankly, in my opinion, those choices are the easy part. Hospitalization, particularly if more than a night or two, should scream DANGER. DANGER. So much can go wrong – including death – if you aren't your own best advocate or, if unable to do so yourself, be sure someone watchful is with you all the time. (I've urged this advocacy in the past, based upon a number of personal experiences and statistical information.)

Research has confirmed that 440,000 people die every year because of preventable medical errors. That is equivalent to almost the entire population of Atlanta dying from a medical error each year. Preventable medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States and cost our country tens of billions of dollars a year.

photo Ellen Phillips

A medical error can be mistaken diagnoses, foreign objects left in the body, botched surgeries of any type, or any number of other atrocious mistakes. For our purposes, though, let's stick to the worst enemy of hospital patients – infections. The very professionals who care for you and even about you often are the guilty parties, usually through being rushed or caring for too many patients per nurse. (I've always declared teachers and nurses are the most underpaid, overworked professionals, yet where would people be without them). If hospitals infect a person, they aren't necessarily on the hook to pay you (or your family if the error leads to your death). To help avoid senseless mistakes/actions and to push for technology already in the works as preventable methods, I suggest the following:

» Become a lobbyist for solutions. Healthcare providers must take responsibility. It's not fair for Medicare (taxpayer funded) to eat such a huge portion of these bills, except in instances when the hospital is blatantly in the wrong, such as when an operating-room instrument is left inside a patient during surgery. A prime illustration on what to do comes from Johns Hopkin University Medical School, whereby their researchers think Medicare and private insurance companies should refuse to pay for all hospital-acquired infections. Consumers are urged to contact their elected officials, telling them you don't think doctors and hospitals should see any financial gain from infecting patients with deadly conditions.

» Ask questions. All states don't require hospitals to report infection rates. On the other hand, ask your state's health department or the hospital itself for that information before you have an elective procedure. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Health Safety Network is another resource for the information. Based on what you find out, don't be hesitant to shop around. Ask if your choice of hospital practices the "bundle" system, a series of evidence-based preventive strategies that, when taken together, can greatly reduce infection rates, says Stephen Streed, MS, CIC, board member of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.

» Get clean ahead of time. Before you schedule an elective surgery, ask the doctor if he or she can give you a take-home antiseptic agent that you can bathe with the night before and morning of the surgery. (Most already do this.) Also, request a nasal swab to check to see if you're carrying MRSA. If you are a carrier, doctors may use suppression protocols to reduce risk of an infection after surgery. Finally, ask if your doctor plans to prescribe IV antibiotics to lower your risk of infection. (I might add that Memorial Hospital ascribes to all of these measures which I discovered when I attended my pre-operative exam.)

» Open your mouth wide. And, no, I don't mean for a throat swab but, instead, to let the staff know you're aware of what's what and you'll demand their follow-through (or your advocate will). I've told readers before that when my family or I undergo surgeries, not only do I post a big sign over the bed that advises "WASH HANDS PLEASE," I also distribute hand sanitizer bottles throughout the room. Still, when doctors and nurses walk into a room to examine you, ask them to clean their hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based sanitizer. (For hand washing, 15 seconds of lathering is enough, and for the hand sanitizer, 10 to 15 seconds should do the trick.) Even if they claim they've already washed, they may have re-contaminated their hands by touching, say, a germ-laden doorknob. (Studies show that superbugs can survive on inorganic objects for weeks.)

» Hand-washing is the single most important way to prevent infections, yet studies suggest that only about half of U.S. health care workers consistently clean their hands properly. (Note to patients and visitors: hand hygiene applies to you, too. Be sure to wash your after using the bathroom and touching surfaces or objects in the hospital room-and always before eating.)

» When internists, dietitians, quality-of-life aides, and therapists make their rounds to your room, question what they are doing and why. In fact, go a step further if you're as paranoid as I, ask to see the doctor's orders for the blood draw, medication, or so forth. And catheters or IVs don't need to be inserted any longer than absolutely necessary because of the risk of complications.

» Get moving and out of the hospital. As lovely as that pain drip feels, each day in the hospital increases risk of developing an infection. Work with caregivers to get better and leave the hospital as quickly as you feasibly can following surgery.

TAX TIP: Those of us who paid extra last year for a license plate that advocates a charitable cause gain a tax break. If the extra money went for breast cancer research, for example, or to preserve public lands among others, Uncle Sam allows the additional fee to be a charitable deduction on Schedule A.

Contact Ellen Phillips at consumerwatch@timesfreepress.com.

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