How Hospitals Harm Us

[hcap]

http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2011/08/how-hospitals-harm-us.html

Lopsided numbers like those lead to the US ranking last out of 19 developed countries in preventable deaths in hospitals. Here is the full ream of stats:

http://images.medicalbillingandcodingcertification.net.s3 .amazonaws.com/hospital-hazards.gif

[Dave Schwartz]

Kind of reminds me of the story about the Chinese emperor who, during a plague, noticed that the province with the most deaths also had the most doctors.

Using his Imperial Logic, he deduced that the doctors were the problem and had them all killed.


So, would it be a good idea to not go to the hospital when one is ill? They should just stay at home and wait to get better?

[PhantomOnTour]

Complete and total crap.

[trackrat59]

Complete and total crap.

Agreed. Total crap.

[HUSKER55]

there are some bad hospitals out there. the older you get the more careful you have to be.

the hospital I go to has digitized my file and that stops alot of mistakes. Anytime I have had surgury the equipment comes locked in a sterilized chest that is unwraped by the surgon.

the past few times I have been hospitalized the girls came in daily and wiped the room down with sterlized cloths.

I think it all depends on the hospital and their attitude.

There is one hospital here that got an IV infected and the guys arm turned beet red. I know of one guy that went in to get his hip fixed and it took two passes before they got it done right.

One guy went in for a colonoscopy and 5 days later was still the hospital fighting off an infecton.

Be careful because not all hosptals are equal

[Greyfox]

The statistics above are a classic example of:
"Figures lie and liers figure."

One statistic that isn't mentioned above is that more people die in bed than anywhere else.:rolleyes:

Of course your chances of dying in a hospital due to an error are greater than dying in a plane crash. Planes are an extremely safe mode of transportation.


The stat that makes the above totally unbelievable is the conclusion:
"Number of hospital-aquired infections that led to death:
Europe 1 in 122 , USA 1 in 7."
It is highly unlikely the USA is as high as 1 in 7 and just as improbable that Europe is only 1 in 122. If either is correct (doubtful), I would want to see how the figures are being collected and reported. We are not told of course of rates of admission and accessibility.

I wouldn't give the study two cents worth of credibility.

[Greyfox]

there are some bad hospitals out there. the older you get the more careful you have to be.



While some hospitals are better than others, it is quite an overgeneralization to say there are some bad hospitals out there. Of course some hospitals have better facilities than others. There may be some doctors and nurses who aren't up to snuff, but to generalize about hospitals...uh uh. They all have minimum care standards to meet.

[elysiantraveller]

I buy some of the statistics about infection, deaths from medical error, and costs of errors... even the sources listed at the bottom back those up.

But to make the leap that we score 19th out of 19th among developed countries isn't supported...

[ArlJim78]

good grief, here we go again.
you can rest assured any unsupported garbage level statistical claims that are made with a blatantly transparent progressive agenda attached to them, hcap will find them and post them and defend them as facts and if you doubt them then he'll ask you why don't you don't believe in science.:rolleyes:

[JustRalph]

I like that Neck Tie one

Compared to non doctor neck ties, where does it come in ?

I would hazard to guess that a high percentage of neck ties are covered in crap

[hcap]

good grief, here we go again.
you can rest assured any unsupported garbage level statistical claims that are made with a blatantly transparent progressive agenda attached to them, hcap will find them and post them and defend them as facts and if you doubt them then he'll ask you why don't you don't believe in science.:rolleyes:
I wanted to show that costs of health care are directly related to iatrogenic sickness and death. Whether you gentlemen buy it or not, it is well established that our health care system is piss poor compared to other industrialized countries. Not the high end procedures, but in specifically dealing with chronic disease issues.

http://www.commonwealthfund.org/News/News-Releases/2010/Jun/US-Ranks-Last-Among-Seven-Countries.aspx

U.S. Ranks Last Among Seven Countries on Health System Performance Based on Measures of Quality, Efficiency, Access, Equity, and Healthy Lives

Affordable Care Act Holds Promise for U.S. Performance; Focus on Information Technology and Primary Care Vital To Achieving High Performance


http://ourcivilisation.com/medicine/usamed/deaths.htmV

[Marshall Bennett]

Perhaps Hcap lives in Nigeria.

[Light]

Perhaps Hcap lives in Nigeria.

This is the most common yet inane type of arguments I hear from conservatives. An irrational,fearful defense if anyone criticizes the good ole U.S.A. Don't like our health care:move . Don't like our foreign policy:move.

How about I give one to all the conservatives out there: Don't like our president:move.

If Americans took this advice literally,there would be a mass exodus from this country that there would be nobody left because everyone doesn't like something. It's time for conservatives to grow up and show some maturity about the state of affairs in this country and stop hiding behind an illusion of patriotism.

[Tom]

Then why is the Golden Door Kicker prez not doing something about it?
We NEED our government to take care of us all, right?
This means Obama has failed.

[iceknight]

Great analysis, phantom and all others who just quickly dismiss things in One sentence.

I do feel strongly that one statistic there is quite meaningless. The one that says more people die in hospitals than other places. Duh yeah, lot of times people go there when they are already in bad bad shape..Lot of people who die in hospitals are on death's door.

but people who acquire unrelated secondary infections in hospital - yes ,that statistic is of relevance.

Necktie pathogens, of relevance

Sleep deprived interns making mistakes - relevance.

Don't dismiss data just because it does not suit your agenda..
At the same time, don't fall for sensationalist headlines - which is what the OP was trying and that 's not good either...

[hcap]

The US health care system DOES rank above Nigeria in the Commonwealth study I linked to


http://www.commonwealthfund.org/New...-Countries.aspx

Nigeria was not one of the countries rated
Easy win!