Patient Safety
Improve Patients Experience
Tips for patients
Once your hospital visit is scheduled, and before you enter the hospital …
Ask your doctor who should you contact in case you need more information.
Contact the Patients Relations Department and ask for a patient advocate, or navigator. They will help you understand what to expect during your stay, including details on how the admission process works, what kind of professional will be involved in your care, what tests will be needed in advance, what to bring and not to bring, who to call after hours once you are discharged, and how to contact the billing department in case it will be necessary.
Always try to take someone with you, another pair of ears and eyes, someone that will help you to listen and take notes.
If spending some days hospitalized….
Family members should be included and informed of doctors’ rounds, where they will discuss the plan for the day.
Family members should know what to watch for.
Ask if the medical records can be at the bedside, so that all results of clinical tests and procedures are shared with the patient. Family members and advocates can include a Patient Progress Note, where patients can note comments or concerns encouraging patient involvement in their care.
PATIENT-CENTERED APPROACH
We as patients should encourage our health care providers to act for our best interest, a patient-centered approach when delivering care is the best way a patient’s experience can be enhanced, some examples of patient-centered care are:
Patients should be the heart of medical decisions.
Patients should be informed of the nature of the disease, the likelihood that they would benefit from a diagnosis, and the likelihood that a long-term medication will help them and not harm them, and if harm should happen, their values should determine if it is worth the risk.
Diagnostic tests should be ordered only where it could change clinical management.
Discuss options of watchful waiting and delayed prescriptions with patients when unsure if antibiotics are needed or not.
Order the shortest-term, best tolerated medication.
Resources
National Health Information Center
Outlines many health-related organizations with links and toll-free numbers.
Know your Rights