February 25, 2010

How Indiana Patients Can Prevent Central Line Infections

Sanitizer.jpgPatients still struggle to determine a hospital’s safety based on its infection rates. However, things are slowly changing for the better. More and more hospitals are beginning to report their infection rates. Approximately, 1,500 hospitals report infection data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, these reports are strictly confidential. The Agency of Health Care Research and Quality also collects data from hospitals in 42 states, but these hospitals are not named.

The Leapfrog website reports patient safety ratings, allowing you to screen hospitals in any city in Indiana, and compare ratings. Simply enter your search preferences (city/state) and wait for the listings. Follow THIS LINK to see an example of hospitals in Indianapolis.

Continue reading "How Indiana Patients Can Prevent Central Line Infections" »

February 18, 2010

Indiana Hospitals Can Prevent Deadly Central Line Infections

IV%20drip.jpgEvery year, one particular type of medical infection kills approximately 30 percent of the estimated 99,000 people who died from hospital infections. Consumer Reports is discussing how hospitals around the country including Indiana hospitals, have been able bring down these infection rates through simple steps.

These infections are central line infections, and they are introduced through intravenous catheters that allow intensive care patients to receive medication, nutrients and fluids. The central lines have long catheters inserted into a large vein connected to the heart. These are different from regular IV lines, and can stay in place for months.

Continue reading "Indiana Hospitals Can Prevent Deadly Central Line Infections" »

February 11, 2010

Types and Causes of Radiation Errors

xray3.jpgIndiana medical malpractice cases involving radiation errors are extremely technical and complicated. One reason is because there isn’t just one way in which a radiation error can occur. With new medical technologies, using radioactive rays to diagnose and treat, and a continued paucity of training and oversight, the types and sources of these errors have increased.

The types of errors have been numerous.

Continue reading "Types and Causes of Radiation Errors " »

February 4, 2010

Indianapolis Radiation Therapies Offer Hope, But Also Present Risk of Injuries

radiation.jpgNew radiation technologies are offering patients more focused and precise treatment, but as a series of investigative reports in the New York Times shows, lack of safeguards, software flaws, faulty programming, poor safety procedures or inadequate staffing and training are causing these technologies to harm the very patients they are meant to treat.

The New York Times profiles a series of radiation errors involving new, more advanced and highly sophisticated machines capable of delivering a treatment called Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT). The errors have included overdoses caused by poorly configured systems, radiation that misses all or part of the target or is focused on the wrong part of the body and other errors. With these increasingly sophisticated radiation tools, you would think that the margin for errors would be virtually nil. In fact, as the NYT reports, the complexity of the machines that deliver the radiation, combined with the failure of hospitals to implement processes that catch errors in time and poorly trained staff, have all helped create a “crisis” situation.

Continue reading "Indianapolis Radiation Therapies Offer Hope, But Also Present Risk of Injuries " »