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Frank Johnson, Executive Director, State Employees Health Insurance Program
Just the other day, an employee asked me: "Is the State going to cut corners with our health care?" Others have asked: "Are you doing anything to make sure we get good, safe care?" Here's what I said: "The State Employee Health Commission, the 22 member labor and management group that works together to buy State employee health insurance, is very concerned that you get the best care. In fact, along with BIW and Hannaford, we joined the Leapfrog Group (a national group focused on safe, quality care). We're also working directly with Maine hospitals through MHMC, the sponsor of this website. We're looking for the best value for healthcare dollars spent. That means safe, high quality care. We're working to help you get it." |
When we hear about medical mistakes - mistakes such as wrong diagnoses, wrong medicines, wrong treatments - we may get alarmed. After all, when we're the patient, we want to know that everything possible is done to assure that there are no mistakes. But, the fact is that medicine is practiced by human beings, so sometimes mistakes are made. A major national report, titled "To Err is Human," pointed out how serious this problem is (see also Institute of Medicine). More people may die each year from preventable medical mistakes in U.S. hospitals than from motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer, or HIV/Aids. Mistakes happen in other settings as well, such as doctors' offices and pharmacies. We just don't have the research about them yet. The good news is that the major cause of medical mistakes in hospitals is NOT incompetence or lack of caring. People go into medicine to help others. They invest time, energy, and effort to become well trained. Most medical mistakes in hospitals are caused by faulty systems, such as hand written prescriptions that can be misread. Another example is a lack of standards about how many procedures a surgical team needs to do each year to stay in top form. These are called volume standards. System mistakes can be serious, but they can also be prevented. And that's where some Maine employers and Maine hospitals are putting their efforts. Listen to what they have to say. You'll get some ideas about what they are doing and also what you can do about getting safer care. Check out these websites to learn more about preventable medical mistakes as well as what you can do to get safe care.
Leapfrog Group:
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: |