New journal series will educate physicians about medi...( ce have invested enormous resources to ...),Health

While this series of articles and conferences are indicative of the steep learning curve medical professionals must ascend to prevent errors and safeguard patient safety, what can patients do to protect themselves? Chassin comments, "Patients should be outspoken and not hesitate to ask questions of their caregivers about their medications, procedures and details of their care. Ideally, a patient in a hospital should have someone with them around the clock to act as their advocate, watchdog and an additional set of eyes. In reality, that's not an option for many patients. And it shouldn't be necessary. A hospital should be the safest place in the world."

When contemplating non-emergency care, consumers may also be able to make more informed choices about which hospital to go to by researching the comparative performance information increasingly available online. "A number of important initiatives have been undertaken to get hospitals to publicly disclose their progress towards safety programs, clinical outcomes, and even patient-reported experience. In California and other states, a growing body of consumer-friendly information about hospitals, readily available on line, will ultimately create a strong market incentive for hospitals to improve," said Mark Smith, MD, CEO of the California HealthCare Foundation and co-executive editor of the new series.

This first article was co-authored by Elise C. Becher, MD, MA, assistant professor of pediatrics and health policy at The Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Deputy editors of the series include: Kaveh Shojania, MD, UCSF assistant professor of medicine; and Sanjay Saint, MD, assistant professor of internal and general medicine at the University of Michigan. Kathy Dra
'"/>

Contact: Maureen McInaney
mmcinaney@pubaff.ucsf.edu
415-476-2557
University of California - San Francisco
3-Jun-2002