Train to be a Patient Safety Advocate!

Patient Safety Advocacy Training Spots Still Open

(March 2011) Registration is open for Long Island’s community based patient safety advocate training.  The PULSE of NY, Family Centered Patient Advocacy Training to be held May 2, 2011 in Lake Success at the North Shore LIJ Center for Learning and Innovation.  Training will focus on the family, friends and community helping a patient through medical treatment including an injury, long term diagnosis or surgery as well as those who may want to think of patient advocacy as a career.

In a 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine was that every year as many as 98,000 people die in hospitals each year from preventable medical errors^(1).  Many more are injured or die in nursing homes or at home.    A more recent study in July 2006 from the IOM that medication Errors Injure 1.5 Million people and cost billions of dollars annually ^(2).  The recommendation for improvement includes steps to increase communication and improve interactions between health care professionals and patients.

In 2006 PULSE of NY, a grassroots patient safety organization studied the role of the patient and family and the expected relationship between the patient’s community support system and the healthcare system.  Through focus groups, surveys and interviews, PULSE of NY developed the handbook “Family Centered Patient Advocacy”.  A curriculum was built around the information from that book and small group trainings have been offered since 2007.  The training has evolved to include Critical Communication⁽³⁾ skills, simulations of true experiences and quizzes to test the audience’s skills.

This full day of training will cover many of the skills needed to help a family member feel empowered, understand the healthcare system better or pick up a new career of advocacy.

Training will start with education about hospital policies, standards and a history of patient safety.  Communication skills will complete the morning.  The afternoon session participants will be able to practice their skills in a simulation room with mannequin simulators and actors.  Those not participating will view the volunteers on a large screen and have an opportunity to debrief about their experience.

Register here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/patientsafetyadvocatetraining

Discounts and scholarships are available.

Contact:  Ilene Corina:  (516) 579-4711

About PULSE:

PULSE is a nonprofit 501 (c)3 grassroots organization dedicated to raising awareness about patient safety and reducing medical errors through advocacy, education, and support. We work to empower the public to make informed decisions, increase effective communication and respect between healthcare providers and the public, and create community partnerships that will foster and ultimately lead to safer healthcare environments.

1 http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309068371&page=1

2 http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=11623

3 http://www.pulseofny.org/Communication.html

 

Obama Launches Partnership for Patients

Obama Launches Partnership for Patients

The Partnership for Patients: Better Care, Lower Costs is a new public-private partnership that will help improve the quality, safety and affordability of health care for all Americans.

The Obama Administration has launched the Partnership for Patients: Better Care, Lower Costs, a new public-private partnership that will help improve the quality, safety, and affordability of health care for all Americans.  The Partnership for Patients brings together leaders of major hospitals, employers, physicians, nurses, and patient advocates along with state and federal governments in a shared effort to make hospital care safer, more reliable, and less costly.  

The two goals of this new partnership are to:

(1)   Keep patients from getting injured or sicker. By the end of 2013, preventable hospital-acquired conditions would decrease by 40% compared to 2010.  Achieving this goal would mean approximately 1.8 million fewer injuries to patients with more than 60,000 lives saved over three years.

(2)   Help patients heal without complication. By the end of 2013, preventable complications during a transition from one care setting to another would be decreased so that all hospital readmissions would be reduced by 20% compared to 2010.  Achieving this goal would mean more than 1.6 million patients would recover from illness without suffering a preventable complication requiring re-hospitalization within 30 days of discharge.   

Achieving these goals will save lives and prevent injuries to millions of Americans, and has the potential to save up to $35 billion dollars across the health care system, including up to $10 billion in Medicare savings, over the next three years.  Over the next ten years, it could reduce costs to Medicare by about $50 billion and result in billions more in Medicaid savings.  This will help put our nation on the path toward a more sustainable health care system.

Building on Local and National Work to Improve Patient Safety

In 1999, the landmark Institute of Medicine study, “To Err is Human,” estimated that as many as 98,000 Americans die every year from preventable medical errors. Despite many successful efforts, this statistic has not improved much in the following decade.  And many more patients get injured or sicker from preventable adverse events after being admitted to a hospital.  After more than a decade of work to understand and address these problems, promising examples of better practices exist, but patients too often are still injured in the course of receiving care.  At any given time, about one in every 20 patients have an infection related to their hospital care.

·        On average, one in seven Medicare beneficiaries is harmed in the course of their care, costing the government an estimated $4.4 billion every year.

·        Nearly one in five Medicare patients discharged from the hospital is readmitted within 30 days – that’s approximately 2.6 million seniors at a cost of over $26 billion every year.

·        The recently formed Innovation Center at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services intends to dedicate over $500 million to test models of safer care delivery and promote implementation of best practices in patient safety. CMS will also provide $500 million for a Community-based Care Transition Program created by the Affordable Care Act to support hospitals and community based organizations in helping Medicare beneficiaries at high risk for readmission to the hospital safely transition from the hospital to other care settings.

Watch a video http://www.healthcare.gov/news/videos/index.html

Or learn more at Healthcare.gov

PULSE of NY Supports

National Healthcare Decisions Day

April 16, 2011

“This is the most important document you will ever sign” was emphasized by an elder-care attorney, speaking to a group of seniors at an assisted living complex.  The paper he held in his hand was a health care proxy, which documents the person you designate to speak for you in a crisis, should you not be able to speak for yourself.

“The reason it is so important is because it pertains to your life – not your money, your possessions or your assets”.  One needs only to fill out a single two sided sheet of paper, witnessed by two persons.  This is an advanced directive, a legal document not requiring an attorney.

You can spell out your wishes, regarding CPR, ventilation,  hydration – whatever you feel is best for you, or you can leave it up to the person you designate. The most important part is that you keep in touch with the designated person, your proxy, and have an ongoing conversation about your life.

National Healthcare Decisions Day, on April 16^th,  exists to remind all people, regardless of age or current health status, of the importance of making these decisions known.  Everyone over the age of 18 should fill out this important paper at once and keep it in a safe place. Make copies for your proxy and family members and encourage your loved ones to do the same.   To get more information or download a proxy visit www.pulseofny.org

Patricia A. Mulholland, RN

Board Member, Hospice Care Network

PULSE of NY, Patient Safety Advisory Council

About Hospice Care Network: Hospice Care Network believes in making every day count for the patient diagnosed with advanced illness. The focus is on caring, not curing, to allow the patient to live in peace and with dignity, surrounded by their friends and family in the environment they are most comfortable.   Our hospice services gives special care to support the family throughout the advanced illness experience. Hospice Care Network cares for patients of all ages, religions, races and illnesses in Nassau, Suffolk and Queens Counties. 

About PULSE of NY: PULSE of New York is a nonprofit 501 (c) 3 organization dedicated to raising awareness about patient safety and reducing medical errors through advocacy, education, and support. We work to empower the public to make informed decisions, increase effective communication and respect between healthcare providers and the public, and create community partnerships that will foster and ultimately lead to safer healthcare environments.