6 Ways To Be A Safe Patient

In recognition of Patient Safety Awareness Week, we would like to share this infographic from the CDC on what patients can do to help prevent healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in the hospital setting. We've reported on HAIs before, see our post: Tracking Infection Control in U.S. Hospitals.

According to the CDC,

On any given day, approximately one in 25 U.S. patients contract at least one infection during the course of their hospital care.

Be an informed and empowered patient and play an active role in your care including questioning your healthcare team about infection control.

You can download this infographic from the CDC.

6 Ways To Be A Safe Patient  

1. Speak Up. Talk to your doctor about infection and what they are doing to protect you.

• If you have a catheter, ask each day if it is necessary. 
• Ask your doctor how he/she prevents surgical site infections

2. Wash Hands. Make sure everyone cleans their hands before touching you.

3. Monitor Antibiotics. Ask if a test will be done to make sure the right antibiotic is prescribed.

4. Watch for Infection. Some skin infections, such as MRSA, appear as redness, pain, or drainage at an IV catheter site or surgery site. Sometimes these symptoms come with a fever. Tell your doctor if you have these symptoms.

5. Monitor Diarrhea. Tell your doctor if you have 3 or more diarrhea episodes in 24 hours.

6. Vaccinate. Get vaccinated against flu and other infections to avoid complications.

Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law
Attorneys practicing in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island

Massachusetts Court: Hospital Can Be Sued for Doctor Working as Independent Contractor under "Apparent Authority" Theory

A recent Massachusetts Superior Court ruling cleared the way for a medical malpractice case to go forward that claims to hold a hospital liable for negligence of a non-employee anesthesiologist working as an independent contractor.

According to plaintiff’s attorney, William J. Thompson of Lubin & Meyer, the decision recognizes that hospitals cannot escape responsibility for the conduct of doctors practicing in their facilities. Said Thompson in the Mass. Lawyers Weekly article:

“When a hospital allows doctors to provide patient care within the physical hospital building, and patients reasonably believe these doctors are associated with and sanctioned by the hospital, it is only fair that the hospital bears responsibility for harm caused by those doctors.”

— William J. Thompson

Specifics of the case Beauregard v. Peebles, et al., involve the hospital's chief of anesthesia — an independent contractor — who met with the plaintiff wearing a lab coat showing the hospital name and logo, and was not defined as a non-employee of the hospital in pre-surgery documents.

As reported by Mass. Lawyers Weekly, the Judge Kenneth Salinger concluded:

“[I]t appears that neither the [Supreme Judicial Court] nor the Massachusetts Appeals Court has yet decided whether a hospital that imbues a physician with apparent authority to act as its agent can be held liable for the doctor’s negligence in the absence of an employment relationship or any right to control the doctor’s daily activities,” Salinger wrote in denying the hospital’s motion for summary judgment. “The court concludes, however, that general principles of Massachusetts common law permit [the plaintiff] to sue the hospital under a theory that it is vicariously liable for torts committed by its apparent agents acting within the scope of their apparent authority.”

The malpractice lawsuit can now proceed which claims negligence by the anesthesiologist regarding general anesthesia and a spinal epidural that left the plaintiff paralyzed. For more information, see the Lawyers Weekly article.

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Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law. Attorneys practicing in MA, NH and RI.