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Medical Errors

By Beth Janicek

Ten years ago, "To Err is Human" the highly publicized federal report called for a mandatory nationwide reporting system for medical errors, which the AMA and the American Hospital Association strongly opposed. The groups believe that mandatory reporting would only drive medical errors underground.

'To Err is Human' also:

• Encouraged states to require medical error reporting. Only 20 states plus the District of Colombia have done so, and there is evidence to suggest that even in those mandatory-reporting states, hospitals only report a tiny percentage of their mistakes.
• Claimed that the public 'has the right to be informed about unsafe conditions.' However, 45 states, plus the District of Columbia do not provide hospital-specific information, because they either don't allow access or because they don't collect the data.
• Recommended the creation of a national patient safety center.
• Urged hospitals to improve the level of safety within their walls.
• Advocated a voluntary system for hospitals to report and learn from errors. Congress approved legislation for 'patient safety organizations' to serve this role, but took four additional years to create rules to govern them. In addition, the new organizations have no meaningful oversight and further exclude the public.

While there have been some positive steps, they have been overshadowed by the continual rise in death toll. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reported in 2008 that preventable medical injuries are growing each year by 1 percent. The analysis showed that more people suffered accidental cuts and tears to their organs during surgery, more patients developed avoidable bloodstream infections from catheters, and one in seven Medicare patients experienced at least one adverse event during a hospital stay. Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services said,

'Unfortunately, there hasn't been a significant improvement in the level of medical errors, and what is getting worse is hospital-based infections that are preventable.'

To see a color coded map, depicting which states require the reporting of adverse events, and which states do not, click here.

Reporting medical errors can be beneficial in limiting the amount of adverse events, but if the legal system in the medical arena worked as it does for the rest of the business community the need for reporting would not be as large. People constantly overlook the fact that medical malpractice cases can help to reduce the amount of medical errors. However, lobbyists in the medical field are so strong that laws become lopsided in favor of the medical profession, ultimately harming the patients. Laws that favor the medical profession limit the investigation of infections received while at hospitals, as well as deny the patient the right to see the hospitals investigation about how they were injured. These are just a few simple adjustments that need to be made to allow the patient or their families discover if a medical error caused their injury or death.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Beth Janicek

Full post as published by San Antonio Personal Injury Lawyer on August 12, 2009 (boomark / email).