You Are the Face of Quality at Sinai Hospital

Did you know it’s National Healthcare Quality Week? During this week we celebrate the outstanding work that healthcare professional do to help improve patient outcomes. We are in a full swing celebration here at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore!  This year’s National Healthcare Quality Week slogan is “You are the Face of Quality”.  You are the face of quality regardless if you are a patient, employee, or physician. This slogan means that YOU, the patient, have a right to quality care (the right care at the right time, every time).

How can you be the face of quality? Question it and come prepared. Some questions you can ask yourself are:

• Have I ever had to stay at the hospital?
• Was I here for surgery?
• Did I deliver a baby?
• Was I here for a very bad illness?

Whether it is expected or unexpected, here are a few ways YOU can affect your quality for a stay at the hospital.

1. Always keep a list of medications with you at all times to give to the nurse or doctor. Be sure to include the drug name, dose and how often you take it.

2. Ask us if we’ve washed our hands as soon as we walk into the room/cubicle.

3. Ask for an interpreter if you speak a different language.

4. Speak up if you don’t understand.

5. Ask for as much information (brochures, DVDs, internet sites) as you want to feel comfortable with your care.

6. Keep a list of all of your immunizations and allergies, including drug allergies and your reaction to the drug.

Why should you keep a list of your current medications and allergies?  The list allows the doctor to prescribe medications which you take at home, if appropriate for your condition. A list of allergies and your reaction helps us to avoid prescribing a medication which might be harmful to you.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) provides the following “Be More Involved in Your Health Care” booklet to keep track of your care and the questions that you have.  http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/beinvolved.htm

This AHRQ booklet is a diary for your medications (specifically, what it is, how to take it, how often, and side effects).  You, the patient, fill in the information as you’re discussing your care with your physician or nurse.  http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/safemeds/yourmeds.htm

-Written by Michelle Buzzelli, MS, CHES, Clinical Resource Management Analyst and Kathleen Friedel, RN BSN, Medication Safety Officer

To schedule an appointment with one of our highly trained physicians and find out why LifeBridge Health is Baltimore's premiere health care organization, call 410-601-WELL.

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