You should not have to worry about getting seriously ill the next time you go to the hospital, said Dr. William F. Minogue, director of Maryland Patient Safety Center. The center, along with Maryland Hospital Association, recently held its fourth annual conference in Baltimore.
How does an event like this conference end up changing the attitude in Maryland?s health care institutions?
The message I got out of this year?s conference was how to engage the boards of hospitals and how to report information to the boards so they can play a role in improvement.
Only a few hospitals have started screening all patients for nasty bugs such as drug resistant Staphylococcus. Why?
There were two competing studies. One said it did, and another one out of Switzerland suggested it wasn?t so effective. Maybe you don?t have to do surveillance cultures on everybody who walks in the door, but you ought to be doing it sufficiently enough that you know what your epidemiology is ? what you should be screening for and how often.
What should the patient know about this conference?
We?re very committed to making it the safest health care system in the nation.
What is the future of patient safety?
The goal is to fix the system so you can?t make a mistake. Just like you?re automobile can?t start unless it?s in park. You can?t put it in gear unless your foot is on the brake ? those are forcing functions. As much as we can in health care, we?re trying to build them into our systems ? like electronic ordering forms
