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Lisa McGiffert is the Campaign Director for Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project.org. CU is the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports.
McGiffert directs CU’s national campaign to reduce medical harm, focusing on hospital-acquired infections, medical errors, drug safety and physician accountability. From 2003-2009, she directed CU’s Stop Hospital Infections campaign, raising public awareness about hospital-acquired infections and seeking public disclosure of infection rates. This highly successful campaign initiated legislation across the country; 27 states now have laws requiring hospital infection rates to be published. The SPP campaign builds on this work, collaborating with local consumer organizations and individuals with personal experiences from medical harm. McGiffert routinely speaks as the consumer voice on this issue at conferences and with the media. She served on the National Quality Forum Healthcare-associated Infections Steering Committee in 2008, and currently serves on an NQF developing a framework for reporting adverse medical events. She is a liaison to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee, and serves on and advises consumer representatives serving on states’ health care-acquired infection advisory committees.
From 1991-2003, McGiffert directed CU advocacy efforts on health issues in Texas. She advocated for access, fairness, and accountability for health care consumers by working with state legislators, state agencies, and through public education, including public speaking and work with local, state, and national media. Her areas of expertise include access to public and private health insurance; hospital and health care provider quality of care; prescription drugs; consumer protections in health insurance; and accountability of charitable health care organizations.
Prior to joining CU, Lisa was a policy analyst and legislative coordinator for the Texas Senate Committee on Health and Human Services where, for seven years, she was actively involved in the development and implementation of state health and human services policy.