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 Healthcare | By Dr. Dennis J. Courtney
A high school teacher turned medical doctor
and medical director of his private practice,
“The Center For Complementary Health,”
in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania. Always with an
eye for non-conventional therapies to treat
everyday medical problems, Dr. Dennis J.
Courtney has devoted himself to non drug
treatments whenever possible. His series
“From a Different Perspective” appears here
with each issue. Listen to Dr. Courtney weekly
on his radio show entitled: “A M Impact on Your
Health,” which can be heard Monday, Wednesday
and Friday from 8:00 - 9:00 am on KHB 620
Hospital Care is
Your Responsibility
It has now been established that medical
errors, adverse medication reactions and
hospital acquired infections lead to an
astounding number of injuries and accidental
deaths each year of patients who entered the
hospital for one particular medical problem
but ended up having to contend with so
much more.Many patients are fortunate
enough to recuperate from these
misadventures; others who are much less
fortunate are not.
Federal and state governments are aware
of this problem and have demanded that
hospitals develop policies and procedures to
meet the challenge of assuring public safety
and re-establishing patient confidence.To
date, the changes have been slow but it is
clear that the hospitals have gotten the
message and will continue to improve
outcomes.What is also clear is that there are
a number of things you can do to protect
yourself.
To appreciate how to defend yourself
from these medical accidents, you first should
understand the scope of the problem.The
following are descriptions of medical
misadventures as reported to governmental
agencies. Some of the more noteworthy:
The Institute of Medicine (IOM), a US
governmental agency, reported that as many
as 98,000 people die each year as a result of
medical errors.This is more than the number
of deaths for motor vehicle accidents
(43,450), breast cancer (42,297), or aids
(16,516).This number represents only
patients who died in hospitals and whose
deaths could be conclusively linked to an
error. It is estimated that the actual number
of deaths could be substantially higher.
The Harvard Medical Practice Study
revealed that medication errors are among
the most common types of errors. It studied
30,000 discharges from New York hospitals
and found that adverse events resulting by
prolonged hospitalization or disability
occurred in 3.7 percent of hospitalizations.
One half of these adverse events were judged
to have been preventable.
An estimated 770,000 people are injured
or die each year in hospitals from adverse
drug events (ADE’s), most of which are
preventable.
Hospital acquired infections, referred to
as “nosocomial” infections, are also a major
source of concern to medical institutions.The
NNIS (The National Nosocomial Infections
Surveillance System) of the Centers for
Disease Control (CDC) performed a survey
from October 1986 and the following was
revealed:
a. Nosocomial infections occur in 5
percent of all care hospitalizations.
b.The incidence rate was 5 infections per
1,000 patient days.
c. Nosocomial infections result in as
many as 70,000 deaths per year in the United
States.
Nosocomial infections pose an additional
unique aspect of concern in that the microbes
that cause these infections are often “super
bugs” and resistant to all known antibiotics.
Finally, when you add up all of the
individual categories of medical errors you
come up with estimates that approach close
to one million patients per year who are
either injured or die from being hospitalized.
This shocking number of adverse outcomes
everyone agrees is unacceptable and must be
corrected.
Even though hospitals are responding to
the public outcry, the wheels of change are
moving very slowly. At this point the energy
and resources being devoted to correcting
this problem are being directed to those
hospital activities that are known to have the
highest incidence of misadventure, such as
intensive care units, burn units, and neonatal
units. It makes sense to improve care on
those areas where corrective action will yield
improved outcomes for the greatest number
of patients. But it doesn’t provide the
assurance that you may need tomorrow at
your local hospital.The potential for
accidental harm from hospital mistakes is
found in every area of the hospital
environment, from the admissions desk to
the discharge escort service. If your hospital
experience is to be uneventful, you will need
to become a partner with the hospital in the
delivery of your care.The following are
things that you should consider doing before
becoming an in-patient or out-patient in
any hospital.Talk to your doctor ahead of
time. It is important that he or she
understands those concerns and that he
should be willing to have additional dialogue
on the subject during your hospitalization if
any specific issue arises.
Before going to any hospital, check it out
online at www.phcqa.org or www.phc4.org.
This site allows consumers to
see how each hospital rates in acquired
infections.
Upon your admission to the hospital,
your nurse should also
be made aware of your apprehension.
You need an “advocate” to remain with
you in your room during the length of your
hospitalization.
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 Hurdling to Victory
Thanks to
Coach Heiser
Who Came
Back From
the Future to
Save SF’s
Athletic Program
Cover
Focus
Freshman hurdler Josh Godwin during a recent meet.
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South Fayette Rocks with Footloose
The musical story of a town’s toe-tapping
transformation.
Cleaning Up
Volunteers were out in force this spring tidying up
sections of South Fayette.
Landfill Power
How Waste Management keeps your trash out of
sight and turns garbage into clean energy.
Special Needs
The school district has created a unique learning
opportunity for one particular student.
History: Part One
Brushing up on South Fayette’s intriguing past.
History: Part Two
Honoring SF’s fallen in America’s wars.
Cupcakes for Seniors
When kids team up to cook food for seniors, you
can bet the result is likely to be mouthwatering.
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 Message From the Superintendent
Sixth-grader Recognized
Green Machine Wins
“Best School Band”
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