Hospital errors

Hospital errors, like the one that led to Josie's death, are common. As many as one-third of hospital visits leads to hospital-related injuries, according to a report published today in Health Affairs.

"We know these types of injuries can increase the risk of other complications -- even death," said Dr. David Classen, the study's lead author and an associate professor of medicine at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. "They also increase the risk of readmissions and long-term disability."

Using the "global trigger tool" -- a checklist executed by a third party reviewing medical records -- Classen and colleagues showed that as many as 90 percent of hospital errors are missed by current surveillance systems. 

If 90% are actually missed that would of course mean that far more people are actually being mistreated.  Word to the wise, ask what the hospital staff are doing.  What is that medication for, what does this treatment do, etc.  This questions will help educate you as to what is going on, but it will hopefully cause the health provider to pause and think about what he or she is doing.