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Senate passes patient safety bill with new error reporting system

The measure would allow physicians and hospitals to convey data on medical mistakes without worrying about sanctions.

By Joel B. Finkelstein, amednews staff. Aug. 9, 2004.

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Washington -- A national system for collecting medical error data seems closer to reality than ever before.

On July 22, the Senate passed its version of patient safety legislation, which will now have to be reconciled with the House measure approved in March of last year. The legislation's proponents have high hopes that a final agreement can be hammered out and passed by Congress this year.

The bill has bipartisan support from powerful members of each party, including Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, MD (R, Tenn.), and Sens. Edward Kennedy (D, Mass.) and Judd Gregg (R, N.H.).

"You have all these people saying we have to pass it," said Donald J. Palmisano, MD, immediate past president of the American Medical Association, which has been part of a large coalition urging passage. "The support was bipartisan, and it was a win for patients and physicians."

While differing in details, the Senate measure is similar to the House bill in that they both would authorize creation of patient safety organizations and establish a set of criteria by which they could be credentialed. These groups would be responsible for collecting and collating data on medical errors, as well as producing reports to help institutions and physicians' practices correct systematic problems that lead to those errors.

"The bill eliminates the shame-and-blame mentality and encourages voluntary, confidential reporting for review by experts and feedback so that the systems can be changed where the errors occurred," said Dr. Palmisano. "The lessons learned can be shared in a de-identified fashion so that everyone benefits."