About a week ago I attended a four-day healthcare conference in Orlando, along with around 30,965 other people. The first day at the HIMSS conference, we were told there were 31,000 but by day two they had downgraded the number by about 35. Well, there are a lot of golf courses in Orlando where one could get lost. This was the 50th year this healthcare association had held their event and they provided all of us with a 172-page long conference resource guide. I estimate there were 1,000 exhibitors, based upon the number of times I got lost in different sections of the exhibit hall(s). I lost track of what century I was in at times as I heard people talking about the importance of “patient portals” (this was not supposed to be a Star Trek convention) and I saw 3-D images of internal organs that could be seen without 3-D viewing glasses (I get queasy watching CSI so I definitely don’t need organs jumping off the screen). While this was by far the largest healthcare-related conference I have ever attended, the sheer number of major conferences on some aspect of healthcare literally exceeds the number of weeks in the year. But those numbers wasn’t the one floating around in my head as I put mile after walking-mile on my imaginary pedometer during those four days....

Every year many men, women and children, equal to the crowd at the 2011 Super Bowl in Dallas, die in American hospitals due to medical errors. They die because a mistake is made. There is often more than one mistake. Moreover, hundreds of thousands of additional people suffer unnecessary injuries, serious illnesses and untimely deaths in our healthcare system. This tragic loss will continue unless every one of us becomes more vigilant and better informed. At the very least, we must rein in the seeming deification of doctors — and start to help them help us.

With this first blog as executive director of the Cautious Patient Foundation, I am setting the focus for this series of regular comments, news and reflections while addressing the large and multifaceted topic of Patient Safety. In my role at the foundation, I am extremely blessed to travel and listen to some of the most passionate and engaged women and men who work for patient safety...