Category: Patient Safety

Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety Internationally Ranked Top-100 Patient Safety Organization: A Personal Perspective on Achieving International Recognition

By Michael Wong, JD (Founder & Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety) 

Can a Small Organization be Internationally Ranked for Patient Safety?

When one thinks about what organizations could be considered a top-100 patient safety organization, these organizations come to mind:

  • Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: #1
  • The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT: #6
  • Institute for Healthcare Improvement: top-100
  • Institute for Safe Medication Practices: top-250

Now, admittedly, some organizations that you might think of being ranked internationally don’t have a patient safety ranking because they have other rankings:

  • The UK’s National Health Service: ranked top-250 in healthcare.
  • The US’s FDA: drug development #2

Continue reading “Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety Internationally Ranked Top-100 Patient Safety Organization: A Personal Perspective on Achieving International Recognition” →

Infographic – 6 Myths About Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial Fibrillation (also known as “AF” or “Afib”) is a common heart arrhythmia. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 12.1 million people in the United States will have AFib in 2030, saying:

More than 454,000 hospitalizations with AFib as the primary diagnosis happen each year in the United States. The condition contributes to about 158,000 deaths each year. The death rate from AFib as the primary or a contributing cause of death has been rising for more than two decades.

To help save lives and reduce the incidence of Afib-related deaths, Brittney Harrell, a legislative law clerk in San Francisco who has a passion for design and patient safety, designed this infographic describing 6 myths about atrial fibrillation.

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Senior Health & Fitness: 7 Tips For Successful Aging

Senior Health & Fitness: 7 Tips For Successful Aging

By Stella Lincoln (Health & Fitness Specialist, crowdwriter.com)

Getting older doesn’t mean you have a poor medical condition, but knowing what’s normal for your body as you age is crucial. The more you are healthy, active, or fit, the better you will feel in the future.

Exercise is an essential key to successful aging. Many studies have proved that routine exercise has many benefits, and it becomes more important as we age. The advantages of physical activity and exercise help to reduce the impact of heart disease, hypertension, muscle weakness, high cholesterol, depression, and stroke.

Individuals should perform 30 minutes of exercise daily. Doing complete body exercise maximizes heart rate and enhances mood and sleep quality. According to the survey conducted in the United States, the health status of adults aged 65 or older, indicated around 38 percent responded have some disability.

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Who needs to wear an SCD and How long Should SCDs Be Worn?: An Interview with Dr. Amy Campbell on Preventing Blood Clot

By Michael Wong, JD (Founder & Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)

CDC estimates that almost one million Americans suffer from venous thromboembolism (VTE), also known as blood clots. VTE is a term that is comprised of two medical conditions deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which is a blood clot in one or more of the deep veins in the body, usually in the legs, and pulmonary embolism (PE), which is a blood clot in a pulmonary artery in the lungs. 

According to the CDC:

  • As many as 100,000 people die of blood clots each year.
  • PE is a leading cause of death in a woman during pregnancy or just after having a baby.
  • Blood clots are a leading cause of death in people with cancer after cancer itself.

Continue reading “Who needs to wear an SCD and How long Should SCDs Be Worn?: An Interview with Dr. Amy Campbell on Preventing Blood Clot” →

Misinformation can be Catastrophic for Cardiovascular Patients

By Andrea Baer (Executive Director, The Mended Hearts, Inc.) and Michael Wong, JD (Founder/Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)

Making sure you have correct medical information—rather than misinformation (i.e., false information)—could save you from being admitted to the hospital or even save your life.

There is a lot of medical information and education on cardiovascular disease, particularly on the internet. But with that comes the problem of misinformation. Finding trustworthy information can be challenging, and relying upon wrong information can have health ramifications. Just because something is on the internet does not mean it’s medically true.

Misinformation

To read the complete article, please go to Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare by clicking here.

Vaccinations Saving Lives For Centuries

Vaccinations Saving Lives For Centuries

Editor’s note: Chickenpox (varicella) has “practically been eliminated” by vaccination in the US.

By Karen Ekwueme, MD, ABFM, ABOIM

National Immunization Awareness Month & the History of Vaccinations

Oral history suggests that the origin of vaccination dates back to at least 1000 BCE. With all of the recent speculations, conjectures, and fears about the COVID-19 vaccination, the long history of vaccinations and their role as a key public health tool can often be forgotten. In this article, the history of vaccinations is put into perspective, so we can better appreciate their role in saving lives.

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CVS Caremark’s Decision Putting Eliquis Back on Its Formulary Benefits Patients

CVS Caremark’s Decision Putting Eliquis Back on Its Formulary Benefits Patients

Editor’s note: Recently, CVS Caremark reversed its decision to exclude Eliquis (apixaban) from its formulary. This is an update to previous posts on this issue – “CVS Caremark Formulary Exclusion of Eliquis is a Patient Safety Risk,” “Non-Medication Switching is a Patient Safety Issue,” and “How a Patient Battled with CVS Caremark and Won”

By Michael Wong, JD (Founder & Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)

CVS Caremark Puts Patients First By Putting Eliquis Back on Formulary

CVS Caremark has put patients first by putting Eliquis® (apixaban) back on its formulary. By doing so, they have stayed true to their motto – “Your health is our priority. At CVS Caremark, each and every one of us is dedicated to helping you on your path to better health.”

Now, I can’t say the same thing about its decision at the end of 2021, but I’ll let you be the judge of that. In its original decision, CVS Caremark (part of CVS Health) decided to exclude Eliquis from the CVS Caremark Preferred Drug List. Eliquis is “indicated to reduce the risk of stroke and systemic embolism in patients with NVAF. Eliquis is indicated for the treatment of DVT [deep vein thrombosis] and PE [pulmonary embolism], and to reduce the risk of recurrent DVT and PE following initial therapy.” Eliquis is a Factor Xa inhibitor and is a Direct Oral Anticoagulant (DOAC). 

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Not Everything in a Box is Safe

Not Everything in a Box is Safe

By Michael Wong, JD (Founder/Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)

The Exception to the “Everything in a Box is Safe” Rule

In today’s world of science and engineering, we have a natural tendency to assume that, if it’s been engineered and it’s “in a box”, it must be ok and safe. While this may usually be true, there are exceptions to every rule. According to the FDA (Food & Drug Administration), more than 80,000 deaths and 1.7 million injuries have been linked to medical devices in the past decade. 

One exception to the “everything in a box is safe” rule may be particularly true of a medical device called patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pump, which when not paired with continuous monitoring may be deadly. 

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