Patient Safety Infomation

You can play an active role in achieving better and safer health care outcomes for yourself and your family. Doctors and hospitals are working hard to give you the best care. However, since communication is a key to preventing medical errors, you have to do your part.

Important Information from The Leapfrog Group

About The Leapfrog Group
Formed in response to the problems and errors in health care delivery

This important non-profit coalition is made up of more than 100 public and private organizations, helping over 32 million health care consumers make more informed health care choices. The Leapfrog Group’s mission includes:

Providing information to help consumers make more informed health care choices

Education about ways to improve the safety and overall value of health care

Did you know... Thousands of people die or are seriously harmed each year in America’s hospitals as a result of medical mistakes that are preventable. Fixing this problem requires better systems of care and the informed participation of health professionals, hospital administrators, health plans and people like you.

We urge you to use the criteria listed below in selecting the hospital that you choose for your medical care. However, you should not rely exclusively on the Leapfrog Group's criteria in making health care decisions. Consult other sources of information about quality care and talk with your physician. For more information about Leapfrog and suggestions for decreasing medical mistakes, please visit www.leapfroggroup.org .

Health safety information that could save your life

Verify that your hospital of choice uses a computerized physician order entry system (CPOE system).

When prescriptions are computerized, physicians enter orders into a computer rather than using handwritten prescriptions. The prescription is then automatically checked against the patient's current information for potential mistakes or problems. Studies show this type of system can reduce serious medication mistakes by up to 88 percent.

View a list of your medications. Make sure that you let your physician know what medications you’re taking.

Select hospitals with proven outcomes or extensive experience with specific procedures or diagnoses.

One of the most important factors to consider when choosing a hospital for surgery is how many times it performs that type of surgery each year.

View Hospital Quality of Care and Cost Estimates Compare quality of care and patient safety measures for the hospitals in your community.

Verify that the Intensive Care Unit is adequately staffed by physicians and other caregivers specifically trained in intensive care.

Having the right experts in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) could mean the difference between life and death. 1 in 10 patients who die every year in ICU’s would have an increased chance to live if care were managed for at least eight hours per day by "intensivists" physicians specially trained to care for critically ill or injured patients.

For more information, visit UnitedHealth Foundation