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.

Mistakes in health care are much more complex. Most errors result from multifaceted problems such as poor communication, inadequate staffing of nurses, or records and charting that is not up to date with technology. The answer is for each person as a consumer to take responsibility for his or her own health.

You may be dissatisfied and frustrated by the way your medical care is today, but there is a way to make it better. You hold the key to transforming your health, beginning with establishing a solid partnership with your doctor.

The U.S. pharmaceutical industry has worked hard to become an international leader in the production of biotech drugs. But as the nation introduces these medicines, we need to ensure that safety protocols are in place -- so that every patient has the opportunity to get healthy.

For many older Americans, their relationship with the most important drugs in their medicine cabinets can be described as "Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em."

Our experience showed that "doing the right thing" -- appropriate care -- and "doing the right thing right" --- safe and effective care - can become the norm at rural, suburban and big urban teaching hospitals alike.

Patient readmissions or bounce back is a serious financial and quality issue. A 2009 study found that approximately one-fifth of medical beneficiaries were readmitted within 30 days

The skipped heart tests mark the failing of our overburdened, financially-strapped health care system. I'm doubtful that this sort of failure is limited to one department at one Harlem hospital.

A hospital task force with the lofty designation: Performance Improvement and Patient Safety Committee takes up issues that seem almost intractable.

CHICAGO — Your doctor could be drunk, addicted to drugs or outright incompetent, but other physicians may not blow the whistle. A new survey fi...

Findings from a new University of California San Diego study lend credence to what is called the "July effect" -- a long-held suspicion that July is t...