According to a poll recently conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, only 22 percent of respondents are confident that they can successfully research and compare the quality of healthcare providers in their area. This poll confirms that Americans feel that due to their own limitations, due to limited resources or both, it is difficult to find and compare the quality of care that physicians provide. We frequently write about the ways in which patient empowerment aids in ensuring patient safety. After all, if patients are aware that one physician has a checkered history of medical malpractice and another has a spotless patient [...]

Addiction is a disease that is ravaging our country. Like most other diseases, addiction does not discriminate. We often hear about the fatal heroin overdoses that claim young people in their teens and twenties. But alcohol and other drugs – both legal and illegal – are slowly and secretly killing victims of all ages and professions, including physicians. Obviously, drug and alcohol abuse can lead to dangerous impairment at work. But for the 10 percent of American doctors thought to be struggling with active addiction to drugs or alcohol, the stakes are much higher. Hospitals have a responsibility to closely monitor their physicians for signs of [...]