The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality says there was an 8% increase in postoperative blood stream infection rates, and a 4% increase in urinary tract infections last year. The numbers of bloodstream infections caused by placement of catheters in central lines, did not change from the previous year. There is however some good news for patients, New Jersey medical malpractice lawyers and health groups. There was an increase of 12% in the numbers of postoperative pneumonia infections contracted in hospitals. 

Obviously, the increase in hospital-acquired infection rates is a cause of concern. This is in spite of increased media attention in recent years, focused sharply on hospital-acquired infections, especially bloodstream infections. It is a fact that several hospitals around the country have successfully implemented measures aimed at infection control. These measures have helped these facilities reduce their infection rates substantially. These steps include the use of checklists before and after operative procedures, more attention paid to hand hygiene procedures, more attention paid to equipment sterility and antibiotic therapy before and after a surgical procedure.

Getting hospitals to abandon their outdated methods that increase the risk of infection, and adopt simple, but effective steps to prevent infections has not been that easy. Things could soon change, however. The new health reform package passed by the Obama administration provides for penalties for hospitals with high rates of infections, beginning from 2015.

However, concerns are beginning to mount about the danger to patients who could be at a higher risk of infections because of the hospital’s desire to save a few dollars or cut down trash. According to Michael Bennett who is the president of the Coalition for Patients Rights, it is unconscionable for a hospital to subject a patient to the risks of infections, just to save on costs.

As a New Jersey medical malpractice lawyer, I'm definitely very concerned about this potentially dangerous trend. American hospitals already struggle with a high infection rate, and we need more firm steps taken to keep these rates in check and minimize the threat of infections. While there is a need for reducing our carbon footprint and minimizing consumption in the healthcare industry, this could be done in other areas. Patient safety must not be compromised just to green hospitals.

 The New York Times profiles a few cases where individuals have been injured by excessive dosages of radiation, and later died from their injuries. In one of the cases profiled, the radiation was delivered to the wrong parts of the body, because of technical malfunctioning of the equipment, and the failure of the staff to catch the error in time.

Hospitals and doctors have grown too reliant on these technologies that are still new. There has also been a failure in training staff to operate these machines properly.

For patients who have been injured by radiation errors, tracing their injuries to these errors can be hard. Often injuries don’t show up for months and years after the error has taken place. Even worse, the kinds of injuries that result from radiation errors are almost untreatable - there is little that can be done to repair the damage.

Medical malpractice lawyers and patient safety advocates will be even more concerned about the fact that these errors continue to haunt surgeons for months after they have occurred. This only increases the kind of strain and emotional exhaustion these surgeons experience, and enhances the risk of making more medical errors.

700 surgeons performing major medical errors in a period of three months is no small matter. As a New Jersey medical malpractice lawyer, I am concerned about how little we are focusing on treating surgeon burnout to prevent medical errors, and the scant space this issue has in the ongoing healthcare reform debate.  

• A fluorescent solution developed by an epidemiologist which can be sprayed in a room after it has been cleaned to detect missed spots.
• A shower-like cubical equipped with a fogger which can be used for sterilization.
• Computer software that allows hospital authorities to monitor any sudden infection outbreaks in any part of the hospital. Data like this can help authorities control the infection source, preventing an epidemic.
• Antibacterial hand soaps have been much maligned for their role in the evolution of drug-resistant bacteria. However, using a mild antibacterial soap for washing helps lower infection rates.
• In New Jersey, hospitals are required to report preventable errors. These laws help keep hospitals in check, motivating them to control infection rates.

The basic steps that hospitals are taking to prevent infection rates include:

• Using alcohol-based sanitizers and placing these in areas where doctors and nurses can easily find them.
• Creating checklists for use in intensive care units and surgical rooms. Checklists are an extremely simple way of monitoring simple procedures
• Hospitals have also developed portable medical kits that contain equipment necessary for simple procedures. For instance, a nurse who has to change a dressing, can have all equipment that she needs from the gauze to antibacterial solution, in the kit, minimizing the need for her to rush back to pick up something she forgot.
• Ventilator-associated pneumonia is an extremely common infection in hospital intensive care units. These conditions can be prevented by regularly cleaning the patient’s mouth, teeth and gums, and elevating the head of the bed at 30 to 35 degrees.
• Newer quick diagnostic tests can be used to check for infections quickly, with results available in a matter of hours.

Scott Grossman is a New Jersey medical malpractice lawyer representing victims of medical malpractice in Monmouth, Bergen, Passaic and Ocean Counties, and across the state of New jersey.

Early indications are that the President, who might have been attempting to woo Republican support for his health care reforms by this move, hasn’t really succeeded in doing so. Republicans have been quick to pooh-pooh the program, saying that it’s too weak an effort to get rid of frivolous lawsuits. The program has also been criticized by public interest groups who believe that the program will do nothing to win Republican support while bartering away the rights of injured patients, which would be dangerous.

We are not going to have affordable healthcare for all in this country by limiting justice for those unfortunate few who are injured by medical negligence.

Fact: Lower malpractice insurance costs would actually have a minimal impact on healthcare spending. Insurance costs, even at the rates that they are at now, are actually not that big an expense for doctors who continue to be the most highly paid professionals in the country.