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Hospitals can reduce if not eliminate medical malpractice and patient deaths and complications - - Some are already doing it

By ajlevy

I have reported in a number of postings that the way to reduce the number of medical malpractice suits is to reduce the amount of medical malpractice. Here, for instance, are a couple of my postings: “Here's one out-of-the-box way to reduce medical malpractice suits: Reduce the medical malpractice — A new study reports that an average of 195,000 people have died annually due to errors in hospitals” http://www.outoftheboxlawyering.com/archives/000053.html “90,000 patients a year die from hospital-acquired infections - - How to reduce the number of medical malpractice cases by reducing the medical malpractice” http://www.outoftheboxlawyering.com/archives/000072.html Well, hospitals are beginning to reduce if not eliminate some hospital-acquired injuries and infections. The Washington Post, in an article entitled “Hospitals Cutting Patient Complications,” reports that “about 80 hospitals in Michigan and New Jersey have virtually eliminated ventilator-associated pneumonia and blood infections from neck and groin catheters.” (Registration required.) The article continues that some New Jersey hospitals have reduced their ventilator-pneumonia cases and catheter-related infections by a third by following steps such as weaning patients off ventilators more quickly and using a stronger skin disinfectant when inserting a catheter. Similarly, “[i]n Michigan last year, 77 hospitals cut the number of catheter-related blood infections and ventilator-associated...

Full post as published by Out of the Box Lawyering on June 07, 2005 (boomark / email).