Indiana Injury Lawyer Blog

The Indiana medical malpractice lawyers at our firm have earlier blogged about alarm fatigue and the risk of medical errors from this phenomenon. The Joint Commission recently issued an alert, warning hospitals to focus seriously on the very real risks of medical errors caused by alarm fatigue.

According to the Joint Commission, devices that come with alarms are used widely in US hospitals for a variety of purposes, and are indispensable in delivering safe care to patients. Doctors depend heavily on these devices to get the kind of information that they need to deliver the right kind of care to patients.

However, according to the Joint Commission alert, these devices also present a number of challenges for hospitals and healthcare workers, because they emit similar sounds. When the default settings are not changed, the alarm sounds will be very similar, and due to the multitude of such sounds emitting from every device in the hospital, medical personnel may neglect to respond to these alarms.

Continue reading "Joint Commission Alert Warns about Alarm Fatigue" »

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Hospital have used a robotic system that sprays a bleaching agent in the air, as part of a strategy to eliminate disease-causing bacteria, specifically drug-resistant microbes.

The results of their experiment were published recently in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. The use of these vaporizers was first noticed in Singapore back in 2002 during the SARS outbreak. Then, hospitals in the United States began stocking up on the vaporizers during the anthrax scare, to preempt any anthrax attacks.

The Johns Hopkins researchers used the hydrogen peroxide vaporizers in hospital rooms. The vaporizers were used in rooms that had been first given a routine cleaning. The vaporizers dispersed a thin film of hydrogen peroxide across the room, including the tables, bed rails, floors, walls and other surfaces.

Continue reading "Scientists Recommend Hydrogen Peroxide Vapors to Disinfect Hospital Rooms" »

Proper hand washing and hygiene procedures by nurses, doctors and other healthcare personnel attending to a patient, are critical to patient safety and the prevention of hospital-acquired infections. Doctors, infection control experts and Indiana medical malpractice attorneys agree that patients play a big role in encouraging healthcare personnel to adopt good hand hygiene practices. However, a new study finds that many patients fail to speak up when they see healthcare personnel failing to adopt proper hand hygiene practices.

This information comes from research published in the December issue of the Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology journal. The researchers conducted a survey of 200 patients who had either suffered a methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection or a clostridium difficile infection in the past, or were at risk for these infections. Some of the patients were at risk for central line-associated bloodstream infections.

Continue reading "Patient Reticence Interferes with Optimum Hospital Hand Hygiene" »

Three-day work weeks for nurses are becoming the norm in many hospitals and are widely popular among nurses because they translate into longer weekends. However, 3-day work weeks are also linked to longer work hours, and according to a new study, these longer work hours are leading to burnout among nurses.

According to the research conducted by scientists at the University Of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, longer work hours and extended work shifts are contributing to symptoms of burnout, and also higher levels of job dissatisfaction and stress among nurses. It shouldn't be so surprising to Indiana medical malpractice attorneys that job dissatisfaction and burnout are also linked to a much higher risk of medical errors.

The nurses in the study came from New Jersey, Florida, California and Pennsylvania, and represented approximately a quarter of the total nursing population of the United States. More than 23,000 registered nurses took part in the study. The researchers found that as many as 65% of the registered nurses in the study worked 13-hour shifts. Bedside nurses typically work 12-hour shifts.

Continue reading "Long Work Hours Linked to Nurse Burnout" »

A new patient safety initiative that is being promoted by Johns Hopkins University, is trying to combine engineering aspects that can promote patient safety and prevent errors, with input from family members.

Often, it is the family members who notice that something is wrong before staff members at the hospital do. Unfortunately, asking family members or even listening to them is not high on the priority list at many hospitals or health care facilities. That attitude should probably change.

The Johns Hopkins University initiative aims to combine engineering aids with the support of the patient as well as families, to reduce the risk of some of the most common medical errors. For instance, an overworked nurse may not notice that a person's bed is not in the upright position. For a person who is hooked onto a ventilator, not being in an upright position could mean a higher risk of ventilator-associated pneumonia. While a nurse may overlook the bed position, a family member could notice, and may be able to bring this matter to the attention of the nurses.

Continue reading "Patient Safety Initiative Draws on Family Inputs to Help Prevent Infections, Errors" »

More than 30,000 people are likely killed every year in infections caused by the C. diff organism. That fatality toll is much higher than federal administration records indicate. According to a USA Today analysis, the number of fatalities linked to C. diff infections are far greater than the federal administration is willing to admit.

Earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention admitted that C. diff infections kill as many as 14,000 people every year. However, the agency reached those estimates based on death certificates. A death certificate does not tell you exactly how the person died. For instance, a C. diff infection may lead to major kidney failure, and the certificate may mention kidney failure, and not a C. diff infection as the cause of death.

The USA Today analysis found that more than 30,000 people are killed from the deadly infections every year, which is about twice the federal administration’s estimates of these fatalities. In fact, C. diff infections kill almost as many people every year as traffic accidents in the United States.

Continue reading "C. Diff Infections Far More Prevalent Than Feds Report" »

For many patients who are hospitalized for extensive periods of time, a hospital is far from a calming recuperative environment. For these patients, every single day is marred by the frequent sounds of ventilator alarms, ringing telephones and nurse monitors. According to new research, such consistent hospital noise is not just irritating, but could actually be injurious to a person’s health.

Many hospitals do not take the problem of noise within their facilities very seriously. The main point of priority for many hospitals is reducing the risk of infections, and with good reason. After all, hospital-acquired infections injure or kill thousands of American patients every year.

Continue reading "Alarm Noise Is a Deterrent to Patient Safety " »

Checking into a reputable hospital may not be sufficient to safeguard yourself from medical errors or injuries from these errors. As Consumer Reports’ recent Hospital Ratings show, some of the most reputable hospitals in the country also have some of the highest rates of medical errors. So, what is a patient who is due for surgery to do?

Consumer Reports offers a list of steps that patients can take to reduce their risk of becoming victims of medical errors. According to the Consumer Reports Hospital Survival Guide, these tips can help you stay safe, from the time you check in to the time you are discharged.

One of the easiest ways for you to become the victim of a medical error is to check into a hospital all alone. Bring a friend or family member along with you, and designate him or her as your patient safety executive. This person will be in charge of monitoring your care, and liaising with the doctors, nurses and other personnel who are in charge of your care. This person should check in with you, and should also be present at the time of discharge. He or she should also check in on you every day, as well as on weekends and holidays. There are several factors that increase your risks of being a victim of a medical error, like failure to inform doctors of the kind of medications you are on. A companion can take of these minute but crucial details, while you focus on getting better.

Continue reading "Tips for a Safe Hospital Stay " »

If patients did not have enough to worry about with the risk of hospital-acquired infections and medical errors, they can now worry that when they open their eyes after a surgery, they will find a debt collector hovering over their bed. In a shameful example of the depths to which collection agencies can stoop, the Minnesota attorney general is reporting that a debt collection agency placed its employees in hospitals to harass patients.

The company, Accretive Health Inc. is now the subject of a lawsuit filed by the Minnesota Atty. Gen. The Atty. Gen. alleges that the company violated US as well as state debt collection laws. The abuse is also believed to be in violation of patient privacy laws.

According to the Minnesota Atty. Gen., Accretive Health Inc pressured patients at a Minnesota hospital chain to pay for their medical expenses, even while they were undergoing care. These incidents allegedly occurred at Fairview Health Services, a chain of hospitals in Minnesota. The Fairview chain, which consists of 7 nonprofit hospitals based in Minneapolis, trained its employees to use a medical system that would track patients who had not paid their medical bills. Patients who hadn’t paid their bills were derisively referred to as ‘blue balls.’

Continue reading "Patients Being Harassed by Debt Collectors in Hospitals" »

In 2009, the Department of Health and Human Services announced a national plan to reduce the incidence of hospital-acquired infections across the country. Three years on, the initiative has yielded success. According to the Department of Human Services, there has been a decline in the number of healthcare-associated infections over the past 3 years.

In a statement released on its website, the Department Of Health And Human Services has confirmed that since the National Action Plan to Prevent Healthcare Associated Infections: Roadmap for Elimination was implemented in 2009, there has been a reduction in hospital-acquired infections in hospitals across the country. The Department of Health and Human Services has submitted hospital infection prevention data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Health Care Safety Network.

Continue reading "Feds Report Decline in Hospital-Acquired Infections" »

Shopping on eBay, checking out airline fares, browsing the Internet and checking e-mails - these are just some of the activities that medical professionals in American hospitals are being caught in, even as medical procedures are underway. The New York Times has a report on how distractions are increasing the risk of medical errors in American hospitals.

The use of technology has become widespread in hospitals around the country, as hospitals have begun investing in access to technology to enhance patient safety. There is no question that technology has many benefits. Doctors who use a smart phone can have important information like patient medical records and prescription details at their very finger tips. However, the risks of distractions from these devices are also very real.

The New York Times found a number of incidences from around the country, in which doctors, nurses and medical technicians were caught using cell phones while performing procedures and in other inappropriate situations. Doctor distractions have been linked to more than one medical malpractice lawsuit, including one out of Denver, in which the doctor was having a conversation on his hands-free set while performing a surgery on a patient. Those distractions were ultimately blamed for errors during the surgery that left the patient paralyzed. The doctor was making personal calls at the time of the procedure.

Continue reading "Distractions from Electronic Devices Increase Risk of Medical Errors" »

The rates of several hospital-acquired infections, including those caused by the deadly MRSA, decreased in 2010. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hospitals across the country have reported a drop of more than 3% in the numbers of hospital patients who acquired the deadly MRSA infection.

In 2010 there were 21.46 MRSA infections per 100,000 hospitalized patients. The Department Of Health And Human Services has set a goal of reducing MRSA infections by 50% by the year 2013.

There was also a drop of 33% in the numbers of central line-associated bloodstream infections. Surgical site infections also fell by 10%, while the number of urinary tract infections contracted through catheters in hospitals fell by about 7%.

Continue reading "Rates of Common Hospital-Acquired Infections Down in 2010" »

Simple searches of hospital medical records using medical injury keywords are more beneficial in identifying and preventing medical errors, than the use of conventional billing codes. A study at six Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals found that these Google-like searches were effective in reducing errors, leading to recommendations that electronic medical record systems include such search features.

Billing codes are widely used as a way to measure patient safety ratings. The US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services uses billing codes to evaluate the quality of care at U.S. hospitals. However, the study at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals found more success with text searches. Researchers reviewed records at six VA hospitals between 1999 and 2006. The records were configured to allow specific keywords. A total of 2,974 patients who had undergone surgery were included in the analysis.

Continue reading "Medical Injury Keywords More Useful in Catching Errors than Billing Codes" »

The country’s very first patient safety institute dedicated entirely to issues related to the prevention of hospital and medical errors and enhancement of patient safety, will soon be a reality. Indiana medical malpractice lawyers welcome an announcement by John Hopkins that it is using a $10 million gift from the chairman of its board of trustees to establish a patient safety institute.

The Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality will focus on conducting research into patient safety techniques that can be used not just at John Hopkins, but also at hospitals and health care facilities around the country. The money has been gifted by C. Michael Armstrong, chairman of the Board of Trustees of Hopkins Medicine. According to Armstrong, the need for a patient safety institute like this seemed very dire to him because of the numerous medical errors that he saw in years of working at John Hopkins. According to a press release, the Armstrong Institute will devote itself to the testing of strategies that can be used in the prevention of patient harm.

Continue reading "John Hopkins to Establish Patient Safety Institute" »

Every year, approximately 80,000 people contract central line-associated bloodstream infections. That's just the number of people who contract infections in ICUs. When you take entire hospitals into consideration, the actual number of people who contract central line-associated bloodstream infections is close to 250,000 people annually. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health have now released new guidelines for the control and management of these deadly infections.

Among other things, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advocate the following measures for the prevention of bloodstream infections.

Healthcare personnel must be educated about the indications of intravascular infections and the proper procedures for the maintenance and insertion of catheters. The hospital must also undertake a periodic assessment of adherence to these guidelines, and must take care to designate only trained personnel for these activities. Most importantly, several central line-associated bloodstream infections can be traced to staffing shortages in ICUs. Hospitals must take care to address this issue.

Continue reading "CDC Releases New Guidelines for Prevention of Bloodstream Infections" »

A patient of St. Francis Heart Hospital patient an unexpected accident that left him in critical condition when a wall-mounted IV pole became detached from the wall. The pole fell on the patient, striking him in the head. As a result, the Indianapolis hospital is taking steps to help prevent any future accidents.

The patient, currently recovering in the intensive care unit at St. Francis Health's Heart Center, suffered a blow to the head Wednesday evening resulting in a serious head injury. News reports indicate that the patient is not expected to recover.

The hospital system reported that they took immediate action by removing all equipment from the wall-mounted poles. They have been transferred to floor-based IV poles. According to reports, this action has taken place in all three Indianapolis-area St. Francis Health hospitals and is sharing information about the incident with the Indianapolis Coalition for Patient Safety.

We anxiously await the Coalition's response.

This isn’t exactly a news alert for Indiana medical malpractice attorneys who understand the importance of having adequate numbers of registered nurses in a hospital unit. However, a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine confirms again that patient safety is impacted when nurse staffing target levels are not met.

The researchers used data from a larger academic medical center, and looked for a link between lower-than-optimum nursing staffing levels, and patient safety. The researchers were also looking for a possible link between patient mortality and high patient turnover at the hospital. The researchers found a strong link between increased patient mortality and unit shifts in which registered nurse staffing was eight hours or more below target levels. According to the researchers, this indicates that staffing of registered nurses below target levels increases patient mortality. The researchers also found that there was an increased link between patient mortality and high patient turnover rates. When the hospital unit had high patient turnover in the form of new admissions or transfers, it negatively impacted patient safety.

Continue reading "Shortage of Nursing Staff Impacts Patient Safety" »

Patients who are hospitalized for treatment are just as likely to die from preventable medical errors, as they were a few years ago. There has been little progress in preventing these errors and saving patient lives, in spite of education campaigns and other efforts. That information comes from a study conducted at several North Carolina hospitals.

The researchers reviewed 2,341 patient records in 10 hospitals in North Carolina. They used a list of 54 red flags to indicate a possible adverse event, including readmission to hospital within a period of 30 days and bed sores. The study found at least 588 instances in which patients were harmed by medical care. That works out to approximately 25.1 injuries for every 100 hospital admissions. Those are staggeringly high numbers for any Indiana medical malpractice attorney to stomach.

Continue reading "Study Shows No Decline in Deaths from Preventable Medical Errors" »

Computerized order entry systems could soon be in place in many hospitals in Indiana. These will make patient record-keeping more efficient, and enhance patient safety. However, a new study shows that they may also have some unintended consequences that could be deadly for patients.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania were studying whether the systems would be able to catch and prevent a deadly combination of drugs from being prescribed. The combination included the anticlotting medication warfarin and an antibiotic. They found that the system was able to work effectively and prevent the combination from pre-prescribed. However, there were at least four cases in the study where this combination of drugs was actually necessary for the patient, but the system wouldn’t’ allow it.

Continue reading "Indiana Computerized Order Entry System Presents Patient Safety Challenges" »

Indiana patients now have a tool that can help them make informed decisions concerning their health care. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has added new search data to their Hospital Compare web site. Using updated information and a slick new look, patients can access health care information concerning their local doctors and hospitals.

Indiana medical malpractice and personal injury attorneys are encouraged by this updated information and believe it will make a positive impact in the quality of health care available to Indiana consumers. Medicine is a competitive business. Hospitals and surgical centers are fighting for every health care dollar. We believe the ability to compare outcomes, various procedures, and nursing quality will influence area hospitals to invest additional resource in an effort to improvement Indiana’s health care.

Continue reading "Indianapolis Hospital Quality on Display" »

Medical ethics dictate that doctors report colleagues who are intoxicated or incompetent. However, a new survey shows that far too many doctors are not interested in reporting drunk or incompetent fellow physicians.

The survey was conducted at the Mongan Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital, and included the participation of 1,891 doctors. Out of the doctors in the survey, 69 % reported that they were prepared to deal with impaired colleagues, while 64 % reported they were prepared to deal with incompetent colleagues. 17% of the reporting doctors had direct personal knowledge of an incompetent colleague, but only 67 % reported this matter.

Continue reading "Too Many Doctors Balk at Reporting Intoxicated/Incompetent Colleagues " »

The Indiana medical malpractice attorneys at our firm have been following the progress made in reducing the incidence of deadly central line infections or catheter-related blood stream infections in hospitals. We’ve blogged on the subject in the past, including success stories from hospitals around the country that have been able to reduce the incidences of these infections merely by following simple steps, like checklists.

However, at far too many hospitals in the country, preventing these infections continues to be a challenge. According to a new survey conducted by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), these infections continue to be a major challenge in the facility where they work.

Continue reading "Rates of Central Line Infections in Hospitals Continue to Be Troubling" »

Black patients are not just more likely to contract severe sepsis in hospitals, but they're also more likely to die from these infections. Those results come from a study conducted by researchers at the University Of Pittsburgh.

The researchers found that a black person had a 67% higher chance of being hospitalized with severe sepsis, than a white person. Not only that, these severe infections also contributed to blacks having an 80% higher chance of dying from sepsis, than their white counterparts. Among black persons, the rate of severe sepsis that required hospitalization was 9.4 for every 1,000 population, while for white persons, it was 5.6 for every 1,000 population.

Continue reading "Study Shows Black People May Have Higher Sepsis Infection Risks " »

There has been much focus on infection control in hospitals, but little has been done to cement the cracks at outpatient surgical centers, where infection rates continue to remain unacceptably high.

A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows high infection control deficiencies at these centers. The CDC surveyed 68 ambulatory surgical centers in three different states. The agency was basically looking at how these centers complied with hand hygiene, environmental cleaning standards and injection safety.

Continue reading "Infection Control Still a Problem at Outpatient Surgical Centers" »

For long now, doctors have noticed that the number of medical errors is constant for all months of the year, except in July when there is a noticeable spike in medication errors. It has been suspected that this spike is because more interns are coming in at teaching hospitals during this month. A study by researchers at UC San Diego, now confirms this.

The researchers have published the results of a study, that show that July is easily the worst month when it comes to medication errors. In fact, it's the worst month that you could choose to check into a hospital, simply because you're likely to be treated by inexperienced interns. The rate of medical errors in the month of July is 10% higher than in other months of the year.

Continue reading "July Is the Worst Month for Hospital Errors " »

As part of the Obama administration’s health care reform package, hospitals will be encouraged to shift from paper medical records to electronic records. So convinced is the administration about the efficacy of these electronic systems in preventing errors and reducing costs, that it has offered incentives to facilities that can speed up the process of shifting to electronic records. Unfortunately, the hurry to shift to an electronic system has been accompanied by poor staff training, computer glitches, and other factors that increase the risk of errors.

Last month, Huffington Post carried a report on how the shift to electronic medical records is being accompanied by increasing numbers of errors. According to data from the Food and Drug Administration, there have been scores of reports of adverse incidents resulting from the use of the electronic systems.

Continue reading "A Rapid Shift to Electronic Medical Records Leads to Errors & Injuries" »

The numbers of patients who contracted certain kinds of potentially deadly infections while in hospital, actually increased over last year. According to a study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, overall patient safety ratings have improved across the nation, but there has been an increase in blood stream infections and urinary tract infections.

According to the report,
• The rate of bloodstream infections increased at a rate of 8%.
• Urinary tract infections increased at a rate of 4%.
• There was no change in the rate of bloodstream infections caused through catheters placed in central veins.
• There was a 12% drop in the rates of postoperative pneumonia. This was the only good news on the list.

Continue reading "Increase in Hospital Infection Rates In Spite Of Control Measures" »

Patients 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" »

Every 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" »

Indiana 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 " »

New 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 " »

The H1N1 virus is a big concern for Indiana residents, as it is for the rest of the country. Many local schools, day cares and churches are taking extra precautions in the fight against the growing virus threat.

Doctors’ offices have started to remove toys and magazines from their sitting areas. Churches are asking their ushers to wear gloves while collecting the morning offering. Schools are shutting their doors to prevent the spread of the virus. Indianapolis area hospitals are limiting the age of their visitors.

Continue reading "H1N1 Concerns Indiana Residents" »