By and large, doctors and nurses are well-meaning, and most of the time, the system is working well and you will get good care. However, mistakes do happen. Follow the tips above to make sure that you are safe and well during every hospital stay.

It's easy, when you have a degree of financial security, to have a real disconnect from the financial challenges that so many Americans face today. Yet our ER experience brought those challenges into sharp relief for me, and the impression wasn't pleasant.

What can make the difference, as well as lower hospital readmission rates and costs, is to have adequate home care lined up before leaving the hospital in the first place.

Medical technology has made dramatic leaps in the past hundred and fifty years. Oddly, one aspect of the hospital stay has remained surprisingly constant -- the menu.

The hospital stay is often a time of great stress for patients and their families alike. Lying in a hospital bed surrounded by tubes and monitors, the patient is in a vulnerable state both mentally and physically.