Jacksonville Patient Safety Lawyers
It used to be that if you didn't feel well, you went to a doctor. If the ailment was very serious you even went into the hospital. Patients did what they were told, elevating doctors to almost a God-like status. Patients can no longer take such a passive role in their own medical care.
A 1999 Institute of Medicine report found that medical errors kill anywhere from 44,000 to 98,000 hospitalized Americans a year. An investigation by the Chicago Tribune estimated there were 103,000 deaths linked to hospital infections in 2000. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated there were 90,000 patient deaths that year, with about 75,000 deaths that were preventable.
Every patient must take an active role in his own care and sometimes that means challenging authority before a medical error occurs. It always it means better communication.
This does not make you a rude person. On any given day there may be thousands of lab tests, orders or prescriptions given. Nurses and doctors are overworked, and during the staff shift, something can always fall between the cracks.
During a shift change, the new personnel may believe something occurred during the previous shift that did not. If an incorrect order is given for medication or tests are not ordered or the results checked, that could be considered a medical error.
Florida has a Patient's Bill of Rights and Responsibilities (381.026) that promotes better communication between health care facilities and the patient. The Bill guarantees that patients be provided information on the procedures to be performed on them so they can make an informed decision about their care and the available treatment alternatives. That means the medical care provider needs to outline all of the potential risks and hazards associated with the treatment.
The healthcare provider must show dignity to the patient and the patient has a right to a prompt and reasonable response to a question or request which may include information on the background of his or her health care provider. A patient has the option to refuse the outlined treatment.
A patient has the right to access medical treatment regardless of his or her race, religion, national origin or ability to pay. And finally a health care facility that adopts a full disclose policy of medical errors and "near misses" and acknowledges that patient errors can happen and provides an important step in improving patient safety.