WE USUALLY go to a hospital to get well, to have whatever ails us cured, and so that we would feel better and healthier afterwards. But oftentimes, going to the hospital can make us feel worse, or even put us at greater risk of graver ailments.

Not for nothing has a term like ?hospital-acquired pneumonia? gained currency, with many patients who came in for relatively minor complaints ending up with much more serious illnesses during or after a hospital stay.

Accidental or unintended infection is one thing, but even more alarming are ?accidents? or ?errors? committed by medical personnel, many of which patients and their families rarely know about, which endanger patients or even kill them.

What can be done? How can hospitals ensure the health and safety of patients, which is their reason for being in the first place?

For St. Luke?s Medical Center, one approach has been the founding of the Center for Quality and Patient Safety, the first of its kind among local hospitals and perhaps in the Philippine health industry.

The center is led by Dr. Joven Cuanang, St. Luke?s senior vice president for medical affairs and chief medical officer. Its aim is to minimize, if not prevent, errors among the hospital staff by creating a partnership with patients and everybody involved in giving medical care, from doctors and nurses and even non-medical staff responsible for delivering basic information about various services.

?The center is committed to provide guidance for St. Luke?s to continue to consistently implement, sustain and improve on the hospital?s quality and safety objectives, initiatives and projects that primarily aim to prevent, minimize, if not eliminate, the incidents and errors leading to patient harm,? says Cuanang.

* * *

In a briefing, Dr. Alejandro Dizon, chief quality officer of St. Luke?s, cited a study issued in 1999 titled ?To Err is Human? (by the Institutes of Medicine in the United States) which found that nearly 100,000 people died in American hospitals each year as a result of medical errors, not medical ailments, that could have been prevented.

?Hospitals have always focused on getting state-of-the-art equipment, the best technology and the best doctors,? said Cuanang. ?However, not much emphasis was placed on systems and processes that inherently had gaps which may allow harmful or fatal errors to occur.?

As part of its drive to improve the quality of its care and improve systems to prevent ?errors,? St. Luke?s has sent its executives and doctors to attend a course on patient safety at the Institute of Healthcare Improvement in Boston, Cuanang among them.

Some of their realizations are stunning in their simplicity. For one, Cuanang notes that at present ?it is only in St. Luke?s that doctors do not wear that ubiquitous white gown and nurses do not wear the cap, for the simple reason that such pieces of clothing could be carrying germs or bacteria.

Patients know all too well how difficult it can be to decipher the handwriting of doctors, and sometimes, if other personnel such as nurses, lab employees or orderlies misread a doctor?s orders, it could result not just in miscommunication but in real risks for the patient.

Right now, in place at St. Luke?s is the ?Read Back? program where a nurse to whom a doctor?s prescription or order has been given has to read back to the doctor what he has written to ensure that he or she understood the orders correctly.

Little things, really, so simple and even common-sensical one is surprised nobody thought of implementing such steps before. But perhaps a crucial step in improving quality of care in hospitals and other health facilities is to view things from the patient?s perspective, to ?think like a patient? and thereby spot gaps in care.

?We envision the center to be a guiding light and will open it to all healthcare facilities, non-government organizations and individuals who wish to avail of the information that we have gathered,? Dizon added.

* * *

Together with rare ?political will? from hospital administrators and medical personnel to look at their services from ?patients eyes,? essential to improving the quality of hospital services are patients who are aware of their rights and are not afraid to ask questions and assert their right to make choices about their health care.

From the American Cancer Society are these ?key areas? of the Patient?s Bill of Rights. These rights include:

? Information disclosure -- You the right to accurate and easily-understood information about your health plan, health care professionals, and health care facilities, with every care taken that you can make informed health care decisions.

? Choice of providers and plans -- You have the right to choose health care providers who can give you high-quality health care when you need it.

? Access to emergency services -- You have the right to be screened and stabilized without needing to wait for authorization and without any financial penalty.

? Participation on treatment decisions?You have the right to know your treatment options and take part in decisions about your care.

* * *

Respect and non-discrimination -- You have a right to considerate, respectful care from your doctors, health plan representatives, and other health care providers that does not discriminate against you.

? Confidentiality of health information --You have the right to talk privately with health care providers and to have your health care information protected. You also have the right to check your records and treatment plan.

? Complaints and appeals -- You have the right to a fair, fast, and objective review of any complaint you have against your health plan, doctors, hospitals or other health care personnel.