Promoting patient safety and improving the quality of patient care
By Michael Wong, JD (Founder/Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)
This is a modern-day story of David and Goliath of how a patient took on CVS Caremark and won.
In the biblical version, David with just a staff, sling, and stones, fights the giant Goliath and wins.
Continue reading “How a Patient Battled with CVS Caremark and Won”
By Michael Wong, JD (Founder/Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)
As this month is National Nurses Month, I have been thinking about nurse-to-patient ratios.
Why are nurse-to-patient ratios important?
Continue reading “Nurse-to-Patient Ratios are a Patient Safety Issue”
By Michael Wong, JD (Founder/Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)
This month of May is National Stroke Awareness Month. In thinking about National Stroke Awareness Month, I immediately thought of my friend, Mark McEwen, who most people know as a reporter for CBS:
By Michael Wong, JD (Founder/Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)
As the Executive Director for the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety, I oversee our blog. I have the responsibility on a weekly basis for writing and vetting articles submitted to us for publication.
Many people rely upon PPAHS for health information (our articles receive more than 10,000 views per month). As we are not a health news agency, we don’t specialize in discussing the latest breaking news – we leave that in the hands of others.
Rather, the PPAHS blog and website are filled with information and resources that may help improve patient safety and the quality of patient care. This information and resources are not “breaking news,” but rather a considered consolidation of best practices, clinical trial evidence, and experience. Understandably, then, the 10,000 plus website views that we receive each month are usually articles that were written months and even years ago. Hence, we must be extra diligent about citing misinformation.
Editor’s note: In this guest post, Anna Preston, a consultant with Live-In Care Hub, a UK non-profit organization, discusses how being a caregiver can be challenging and provides resources to help manage the stresses of being a caregiver.
By Anna Preston (Live-In Care Hub, a UK non-profit)
Working in the care sector can have its ups and downs, but caregivers may suffer from caregiver burnout. But, there’s no doubting that it is one of the most rewarding jobs you can ever do if you are the kind of person who is able to cope no matter what challenges and situations may arise.
Caring for someone in a professional capacity can be demanding as well as rewarding. This is especially the case if you are providing live-in care services. You’ll be expected to provide a range of care services depending on how much care the client needs. These can range from personal care and domestic support to accompanying them on outings and appointments and looking after the family pet if needed. This is why some caregivers, whether professional or family members, sometimes reach a point where they feel they can’t cope.
Doctors are fighting to ensure their stroke patients are getting access to the medications they need, reports FOX13 News in Memphis, Tennessee:
Continue reading “Two Steps For Reducing Your Risk of Blood Clots”
COVIDSepis (noun): COVIDSepsis is a medical condition where the patient presents with the following conditions – coughing, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, and fever. Patients with COVIDSepsis may also have an altered mental state, difficulty breathing, reduced urine output, rapid heart rate, a weak pulse, and cold extremities.
According to the Sepsis Alliance, “severe COVID-19 is viral sepsis.” As a result, distinguishing between whether a patient is suffering from COVID or has sepsis can be very difficult. As researchers in their research published in December of 2021 concluded:
In honor of Blood Clot Awareness Month 2022, here are 5 patient safety actions you can take to help save a life:
Continue reading “5 Patient Safety Actions You Can Take For Blood Clot Awareness Month”
Update May 16: PPAHS understands that as of July 1, 2022, CVS Caremark will add apixaban (Eliquis®) back to its formulary, reversing its decision to non-medically switch thousands of patients using direct oral anticoagulants. Please follow our blog for updates on this issue.
By Michael Wong, JD (Founder/Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)
In a recent post on non-medication switching, I posed this question – “Is CVS Caremark Illegally Practicing Medicine?”
I asked this question because CVS Caremark recently decided to exclude Eliquis® (apixaban) from its Preferred Drug List. CVS Caremark’s decision to exclude Eliquis means that patients who are filling their prescriptions through CVS Caremark will need to transition to Xarelto® or be willing to pay 100% of the cost of Eliquis. This means that CVS Caremark has decided that Xarelto must be used by all such patients requiring a DOAC, even though none of these patients has a physician-patient relationship with CVS Caremark.
PPAHS does not endorse any specific medication, pharmacy, or pharmacologic product. The choice of which medication to prescribe must be with the physician in consultation with each patient, and not be dictated by a person or company that has no physician-patient relationship.
Continue reading “Non-Medication Switching is a Patient Safety Issue”
By Michael Wong, JD (Founder/Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)
This blog article celebrates Patient Safety Awareness Week. As a non-profit 501c3, the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety (PPAHS) is dedicated to improving patient safety and improving the quality of patient care.
However, it is not just organizations like the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) American Society for Health Care Risk Management (ASHRM), or even PPAHS that are needed to improve patient safety. This responsibility lies with each and every one of us.