Congratulations to Dr. Michael Okun on the publication of “Protecting Parkinson’s Patients: Hospital Care Standards to Avoid Preventable Harm,” which appears in the December issue of the Joint Commision Journal on Quality and Patient Safety.
Imagine a patient is admitted to the hospital for an elective procedure, expecting to be rapidly discharged. Instead of going home, they remain in the hospital as their condition deteriorates. Physically, the patient experiences imbalance and rigidity, resulting in missteps and a fall. Mentally, the patient feels increasingly confused, disoriented, and anxious. Ten days later, the patient is discharged to a skilled nursing facility in worse medical condition than before the elective procedure. Financially, the patient is saddled with burdensome additional costs.