IOM quality report: The goals to tackle medical errors are laudable. But will they be reached?

The Institute of Medicine tries again with a new report.

Editorial. March 26, 2001.

The Institute of Medicine's second of two reports on quality in American health care, "Crossing the Quality Chasm," doesn't seem to have made quite as big a splash as the first.

That earlier report, "To Err is Human," made famous the figure of up to 98,000 patient deaths yearly from medical mistakes. Even though that number was drawn from earlier research, it was an attention-grabber -- perhaps too much so. It somewhat overshadowed the rest of the report's message on patient safety.

This time out of the gate, headlines and sound bites with an accent on the negative again appear to have done a disservice to the IOM. The headline in USA Today was typical: "Report: Health system broken."

There's a limited audience for a recap on the health system's day-to-day failings, from irritations to far worse, when they have been experienced by so many patients and doctors already. It's a wonder if many bothered to read beyond the headlines.

That's a shame because perhaps the IOM report's greatest strength is that it does a good job of articulating the positive values of what American health care should aspire to be -- safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient and equitable. There is room for debate on details and the practicality of the IOM's specific recommendations, but at least that's a solution-centered discussion well worth having if it leads to better patient care. [...]