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Physicians, public at odds over errors

Researchers report that patients and doctors disagree over the best way to curb medical mistakes.

By Andis Robeznieks, amednews staff. Jan. 13, 2003.

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The surprising aspect of a recent study on medical errors wasn't that so many people had been affected by them, but that the public and practicing physicians have such disparate opinions on the seriousness of the problem and how to fix it.

"The big finding is that physicians are relatively lukewarm about a number of proposals that have been pushed regarding reducing medical errors," said Robert Blendon, ScD, a professor of health policy at the Harvard School of Public Health. "The medical community is skeptical about the number of medical errors and the effectiveness of proposed solutions."

Dr. Blendon led a team of Harvard and Kaiser Family Foundation researchers who surveyed 831 physicians and 1,207 adults on the subject of medical errors.

According to their report, which was published in the Dec. 12, 2002, New England Journal of Medicine, 35% of the doctors surveyed and 42% of the public reported experiencing a medical error in their own care or in the care of a family member. Of these, 18% of the physicians and 24% of the public said the error had caused serious consequences such as death, long-term disability or severe pain.

Despite these numbers, only 5% of the doctors and 6% of the public saw reducing medical errors as a top health care concern. Physicians listed medical liability insurance costs and lawsuits as their top concern (29%), with health care costs close behind (27%). The public picked health care costs (38%) and prescription drug costs (31%) as its top concerns.