Oct. 4 Health Watch USA conference in Lexington will focus on health-care transparency and patient safety

Somerset-based Health Watch USA will hold its 12th annual Healthcare Transparency and Patient Safety conference Oct. 4 in Lexington.

This year's conference will look at the importance of nursing in the prevention of adverse events, how infectious disease puts both patients and staff at risk, the importance of patient access to their medical records and the value of patient advocacy.

Christine Pontus, associate director of the Division of Health and Safety for the Massachusetts Nurses Association, and Jonathan Rosen, the principal consultant for AJ Rosen & Associates, which provides occupational-safety and industrial-hygiene services to labor unions, government agencies and organizations throughout the U.S., will review key occupational hazards confronting nurses, including the importance of safe staffing and infection control.

Jayne O'Donnell, USA Today's health-care policy reporter, will discuss what she's learned while covering patient safety and will offer strategies for healthcare workers to use when talking to reporters about medical safety lapses. She will also discuss the roadblocks reporters face when reporting on patient safety.

Dr. Joycelyn Elders, a former U.S. surgeon general, will lead a discussion on the importance of patient advocacy, followed by six patient advocate presentations.

Lisa Danielpour, a marketing, social-media and nonprofit-management consultant, will show how giving patients full access to their records can improve patient safety and health outcomes.

The conference will run from noon to 9 p.m. at the Eastside Branch Library in Lexington and will offer continuing education credits for certain medical professionals. The conference hotel is TownePlace Suites, 1790 Vendor Way, Lexington, KY, Hamburg Shopping Center. Click here for more information and a link to register.