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Patients and Their Families
YOU have a crucial role to play. Although serious adverse health events
are very rare, you should be aware of them so you can ask
questions and make sure health care workers are doing their jobs in the
safest possible way. Patients and their families should never feel
embarrassed when they ask questions - because the right question might
help avoid a mistake or clarify an important medical issue.
Here are some of the questions that patients or their family members
might want to ask:
- Can you explain that to me again?
- Will this interact with the medicine(s) I’m already taking?
- How can I be more involved in my health care?
- How can I help my family member (the patient) when we are back home?
- Are there any special or serious side effects I should know about?
- Is there anything I should avoid doing while on this medication?
We include here some links to useful websites that have more information
for you as a patient.
And you are always welcome to contact one of our staff members with
questions.
LINKS TO HELP YOU BE AN ACTIVE HEALTHCARE CONSUMER:
The Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research (AHRQ) has useful web
information for patients and their families:
Be an active healthcare consumer http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/
How to talk to your doctor
http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/quicktips/doctalk.pdf
The National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF) shares how you can help
improve patient safety. http://www.npsf.org/pdf/paf/WhatYouCanDo.pdf
The Joint Commission has a "Speak Up" campaign with useful discussions
on preparing for surgery, preventing infections, managing medications,
and more. http://www.jointcommission.org/GeneralPublic/Speak+Up/
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