Health reform was a huge battle – and major victory – because it took Congress to pass groundbreaking new laws to get insurance companies to do right by patients. But change doesn’t always require Washington passing a law. Sometimes we just need common sense.
More than 30,000 Americans die every year from bloodstream infections they get from catheters while in the hospital. And just this week, federal researchers reported that rate is rising. But a leading Johns Hopkins doctor has developed a simple checklist that when used, could cut these types of infections by two-thirds. Some hospitals have even eliminated these kinds of infections for periods of time using the checklist.
If all hospitals followed this checklist, we could save tens of thousands of lives each year and billions of dollars. It works. It’s voluntary. Yet most hospitals don’t do it, because they haven’t been pressured to implement it. That’s where you come in.
We’re not asking for a new law, or a big exercise in governance. We just need to make state lawmakers aware that this simple, effective checklist can save money and lives in your state. It could even affect the life of a loved one – because no one expects a hospital stay to do more harm than good.
These bloodstream infections are one of the most common – and preventable – deadly infections in hospitals. And they add an average $42,000 to the hospital bills of each ICU patient. Sensing there had to be a better way, Dr. Peter Pronovost, a critical care specialist and patient-safety researcher at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, developed a five-step checklist to prevent them.
When the checklist was implemented in Michigan, central-line bloodstream infections dropped by 66 percent, and an estimated 1,500 lives and $200 million were saved in the first 18 months. Now, we need to make sure your area hospitals are using this proven prevention technique. It doesn’t take a law, just your voice right now.
Ask your state lawmakers to push local hospital to use the checklist – and save lives.
Thank you for taking the time to make your local hospital a smarter, safer place. You never know when you’ll need it. And please forward this to friends and family, so they can do the same.
Sincerely,
Lisa McGiffert,
SafePatientProject.org
A project of Consumers Union
506 West 14th St., Suite A
Austin, Texas 78701
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