Patient safety measure headed for Senate floor

The bill would establish legal privilege for medical error data voluntarily reported to accredited patient safety organizations.

By Joel B. Finkelstein, AMNews staff. Aug. 11, 2003.

Washington -- Patient safety legislation may have taken a back seat to larger health issues but is still plodding ahead with bipartisan support.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee recently voted unanimously to pass a bill that would establish a certification system for patient safety organizations that collect information on medical errors. The legislation also would conditionally shield those data from use in lawsuits against physicians and institutions.

"The medical liability system has created a 'culture of blame,' which causes errors to be hidden and repeated," said Sen. Judd Gregg (R, N.H.), the committee's chair and a co-sponsor of the measure. "This bill will give doctors and other health care professionals a chance to report their mistakes so they can learn from them."

According to the bill's original author, Sen. James Jeffords (I, Vt.), "Doctors and other health care providers will be able to report their mistakes without the threat of punishment, and their patients will be much better off for it."

The measure is now headed to the Senate floor after the August recess, said Majority Leader Bill Frist, MD (R, Tenn.).

Physician groups are pleased with the bill, which has been three years in the making.

"When physicians can report errors in a voluntary and confidential manner, everyone benefits," said Donald J. Palmisano, MD, president of the American Medical Association. "This legislation strikes the right balance between confidentiality and the need to ensure accountability throughout the health care system."