2013

A new report takes a look at the myriad threats faced by those in the healthcare field and how the current regulatory landscape fails to offer adequate safeguards for these persons.  Understanding the trend will be vital to limiting injuries in the future. Public Citizen conducted a study that found healthcare workers are more susceptible… read more

Consumer Reports recently conducted a study on hospitals around the country that sought to determine which were the safest in terms of surgical outcomes and which fared the poorest.  The results paint a picture of some of the track records of hospitals in California. Coming in with a score of 25 out of 100, the… read more

A new report in the Los Angeles Times focuses in on the threat posed when people hijack the communications of a hospital.  The worry is that, if someone that was looking for something more than a simple payoff ever hacked into a public safety system, they would be able to cripple such vital services and… read more

Yesterday marked the beginning of something known as National Patient Safety Awareness Week, an event which will find authorities from across the country providing tips and urging doctors and patients alike to do what they can to make sure persons who check in for medical treatment are kept safe throughout the process.  It’s an important… read more

Transparency.  It’s available in many industries, yet notably missing in the one area where it matters the most:  medical care.  Although some strides have been made at various institutions across the country, that progress is hardly the norm at a large majority of hospitals.  A recent report in the Wall Street Journal from a doctor… read more

Five hospitals that installed television mounting systems in their Intensive Care Units now need to remove them due to a safety recall. One of the Ondal AC2000 television mounting systems fell in a hospital room. Fortunately, it did not injure anyone. A washer is missing in the arms of these systems, which leads to wear… read more

This week, the Food and Drug Administration is planning on educating people about a topic that not many probably stop to consider:  surgical fires. The safety organization plans to hold a webinar in order to address this very important issue.  The FDA has estimated that 550 to 650 fires on average occur every year in… read more

Communication is crucial when a patient is meeting with a healthcare professional to talk about their care plan.  But what happens when this communication is compromised? A new study suggests that the quality of translation for non-English speaking patients in American hospitals could have a direct impact on the safety of the patient.  Published in… read more

Various news sources have reported that the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center has been inspected and allegedly found to not be up to federal hygiene standards. According to federal inspection reports, the Hospital’s operating rooms weren’t kept clean, which provides an unsafe environment to its patients who could be exposed to possible infections. As stated in the… read more

While most people associate hospitals with getting healthier, it is sometimes the case that patients who go to a hospital for treatment actually end up getting sicker there than they were to begin with. Consumer advocacy groups are continually trying to make hospitals safer places for patients. According to member of the Safe Patient Project,… read more