How Far We Have Come? Or Not.............

 Two Days of Learning 

I just spent two days at the Health Care Advocate Summit.  I planned to go to see what is happening in the world of patient/healthcare advocacy.  First, we should understand the many different areas of advocacy.

There are advocates who work for a healthcare institution, work for “big pharma” (pharmaceutical companies), who work out of doctors’ offices and yes, independent patient advocates who are hired and paid for by the patient and/or the patient’s family.  There are advocates who specialize in healthcare billing concerns, insurance questions, access to medical care and treatment, and financial navigation.  Many independent patient advocates may pay attention to those areas and have an expertise, but others may focus on rare diseases, chronic medical conditions, older adults, pediatrics, cancer, etc.  I’m sure you get the idea.

Though this conference was both virtual and in person (I chose to be there in person to meet some of the people I have already met over Zoom), the “independent” patient advocates seemed to be very few.  Missing were the words “patient safety”.

Though I get that people who have an illness need help navigating the health care system, getting proper medication or assistance with their plan of care, the word “safety” was never used until I brought it up.

While most patient advocates seem to be on a mission to help people get well, we are missing the point that medical errors, which happen to the people using the healthcare system, are still a serious problem. The speakers at the conference often sounded like commercials for the companies they worked for. It seemed like a competition about which company advocates should use for their clients.  Much of the information was important and I learned a lot as well as got some good resources I might use. But still, medical mistakes and injury is a huge obstacle to getting well. 

When a speaker talked about insurance companies and third-party administrators (TPA’s) that provide administrative services for self-funded or self-insured health plans, I asked why educating the public about medication safety isn’t part of the dialogue in saving money for these companies. After all, each year the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) receives more than 100,000 reports associated with a suspected medication errors, and each year in the United States alone, 7,000 to 9,000 people die as a result of a medication error.  To the speaker (and audience) I cited the statistic that medication errors cost $40 billion each year. In addition to the monetary cost, patients experience psychological and physical pain and suffering as a result of medication errors.⁽¹⁾

So, I never did get an answer because though the speaker agreed that it’s a problem, he explained that the public or consumer is “not ready” to be educated on medication safety. I strongly disagree, and our Pulse Center for Patient Safety Education & Advocacy’s work in this area, assisted by other patient safety leaders suggests just the opposite.

I did learn some other things, such as where people who need financial support for their illness may be able to get it if they can’t afford their medications or medical care. It all depends if the funding is available.

Not sure how far we have come in 25 years. 

(11)  https://pulsecenterforpatientsafety.org/oneisanumber-medicationsafetyerrors/