ARS on Twitter
RSS
Medical Errors Reporting
Posted by Raven on July 27th, 2005
Medical errors are not always people errors. Many times it is the equipment being used. I have seen firsthand how an IV pump can go haywire, because of faulty manufacturing standards. I have also seen nurses give the wrong meds to the wrong patients at the wrong time. The system doesn’t encourage reporting of any error, sadly. Rather, it is punitive in nature and currently when errors are reported, people and facilities get sued. This has to stop. No one wants to admit to screwing up when their career is on the line.
WASHINGTON (AP) – A national system designed to increase reporting of medical errors won final congressional approval Wednesday and was sent to President Bush.
It is estimated that more than 250 Americans die every day as a result of preventable medical errors. Health care officials say increased reporting of such errors would make it easier to spot harmful trends and find solutions, but the current environment punishes openness because reporting such errors could lead to the loss of credentials or a lawsuit.
Under the legislation approved overwhelmingly by the House, health care officials would voluntarily report medical errors to patient safety organizations, which would use a network of computer databases to analyze the information and make recommendations on ways to improve health care. The information would be treated as privileged and confidential.
The administration called the legislation “a critical step toward the president’s goal of high-quality, patient-centered health care.”
I would like to see more about how this would really work. I hope the people involved with planning this got some input from medical people. Also, input should have been sought from those who are involved with the manufacturing processes of medical equipment.
The American Medical Association and the American Hospital Association supported the legislation, as did consumer groups such as the AARP. Dr. J. Edward Hill, president of the AMA, said the legislation would not harm consumers’ rights to access the legal system if they are harmed by medical error.
“I think employees and physicians will be excited about the ability to make positive suggestions about how to improve systems so errors won’t occur,” said Hill, a family physician from Tupelo, Miss. “This way, we learn from our mistakes.”
The Bush administration said the legislation would reduce the number of lawsuits resulting from medical error.
“Information from medical records and existing data sources will continue to be made available for injured plaintiffs to pursue their claims in court, just as that information is available today,” said a statement released by the Office of Management and Budget.
In 1999, the Institute of Medicine, which advises the federal government on science and technology, reported that up to 98,000 deaths occur every year in U.S. hospitals as a result of medical errors. The number is often cited by lawmakers when they describe why the national database is needed.
“This makes medical errors the eighth leading cause of deaths each year – more than car accidents, breast cancer or HIV/AIDS,” Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said prior to the House vote.
I believe this number is extremely exaggerated.
“The reliance on studies without controls to make headline claims about huge numbers of preventable deaths was one error that (the Institute of Medicine) did not catch,” said the authors of an article published in July 2000 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
While some health care analysts believe the number of deaths due to medical error has been exaggerated, that sentiment does not mean they oppose the establishment of a national reporting system.
July 28th, 2005 at 12:11 pm
Raven, bear with me for a moment. suppose that there were no penalties for reporting an error you made. How would you weed out those people who just screw up way too often? if there is any kind of disciplinary action that in of itself will serve as a deterrent to reporting. but if someone can screw up with impunity, how do you protect patients from someone who clearly does not have the patient’s well being first and foremost in thier minds?