What you need to know before you or a loved one go into the hospital

Most people know they should have an advocate with them when they go into the hospital. But they don't know how to be a good advocate for others. Karen Curtiss isn't a health care professional, but a former marketing consultant and mother of four who started CampaignZERO in 2009 to provide consumers with the strategies and checklists to help reduce medical errors. She compiled her research into a handbook called "Safe and Sound in the Hospital," which is available on Amazon and at CampaignZERO.org. We talked with Curtiss at her Lake Bluff home.

By Bonnie Miller Rubin, Chicago Tribune reporter

August 15, 2012