Medical errors can lead to harmful effects on anyone. The effects can be magnified when a person is elderly or ill. Needless errors can result in more medical visits and health insurance payments.

Research from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston says that negative reactions to certain drugs occur in approximately 40 percent of all hospital patients.

A special computer program that warns doctors of a patient's potential allergy or other complications has been shown to significantly reduce the number of harmful prescription combinations.

"We have long known that certain commonly prescribed drugs can be harmful to older patients," says BIDMC associate director and gerontologist Dr. Melissa Mattison. "But because the majority of doctors have not been trained in geriatric medicine, they may not be aware of these risks. Our study found that when doctors were alerted that the drugs they were ordering could pose a danger to older hospital patients, the orders dropped almost immediately."

Getting a grasp on the special needs of older people is particularly important as the number of elderly citizens continues to rise. Data from the U.S. Census shows there was nearly 36 million people over the age of 65 in 2003.

Preventing the spread of many diseases can be done through simple vaccinations. While most are not fans of needles, getting the recommended shots can protect someone from becoming ill.

A survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that, fortunately, more teens are getting the recommendation vaccinations.

The survey of more than 20,000 teens between the ages of 13 and 17 revealed a 15 percent increase in vaccinations for pre-teens. The number of vaccinations for meningococcal conjugate increased to 54 percent and the number of girls receiving at least the first dose of the human papillomavirus vaccine increased to approximately 44 percent.

CDC National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases director Dr. Anne Schuchat says that while the increase in immunization is encouraging, more work needs to be done.

"We can see that more parents of adolescents are electing to protect their children from serious diseases such as pertussis, meningitis, and cervical cancer, but there is clear room for improvement in our system's ability to reach this age group," said Schuchat.

Patients should discuss with their doctor what their health insurance plan with cover in addition to any potential side effects when considering getting a vaccine. Potential side effects for the meningococcal vaccine tend to be mild and include fever and headache.

With the state readjusting its budget, Pennsylvania's Mental Health/Mental Retardation Coalition is voicing its concern over being forced to operate with less funding.

The group wrote a letter to state Governor Edward Rendell stating the importance of the services it offers. The MH/MR Coalition said it has been underfunded and shouldn't have to face a budget cut.

"We are very concerned that decreased funds from the federal government will result in another round of cuts to programs for people in Pennsylvania who live with mental illness, intellectual disabilities and substance abuse disorders," said Mental Health Association in Pennsylvania executive director Sue Walther. "This should not happen when there are other line items in the state budget that increased during the initial budgeting phase."

The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that 26.2 percent of Americans over the age of 18 have a mental disorder in any given year. Cutting funding and services to the mentally ill may ultimately end up costing more in the long run if their conditions get worse.

Many people have heard the common advice of owning up to one's mistakes before getting caught. Now, research reveals that when medical errors are proactively sought and compensation offered when at fault, the number of legal claims decreased. The study debunks the notion that health care and health insurance costs will rise if such information is openly brought forth.

University of Michigan chief risk officer and study co-author Richard Boothman says that the study shows that expenses won't necessarily rise if medical errors are fully disclosed.

"This shows that over time, hospitals can afford to do the right thing," says Boothman. "It demonstrates what we have believed to be true for some time: the sky won't fall in by pursuing a pro-active and honest approach to medical mistakes."

Medical errors can have major adverse effects on patient safety. Research by the Institute of Medicine found that thousands of people die each year due to medical errors. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services suggests that patients try to be proactive in their care by keeping track of all their medications and getting results of all medical tests taken.

Emergency rooms are increasingly full of patients with severe illnesses. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association reveals that emergency room visits are increasing at a rate double that of the growth in population.

There were over 119 million emergency room visits in 2006, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Thirteen percent of those visits resulted in the patient being admitted.

American College of Emergency Physicians president Dr. Angela Gardner believes that Medicaid patients in particular find themselves frequently going to the emergency room for care. She says that the poor compensation levels doctors receive for Medicaid patients forces them to limit the number of patients they care for.

Gardner asserts that the large number of emergency room closings is only making it more difficult for patients to seek care.

"This limits everyone's access to lifesaving emergency care. ERs are a critical, life or death part of our health care system that need help now. The crisis in emergency care is everyone's problem, because we are all only one step away from a medical emergency."