Patient safety gets boost from law easing fear of reporting

Physicians say the voluntary, confidential reporting system encourages participation by eliminating lawsuit fears.

By David Glendinning, AMNews staff. Aug. 15, 2005.

Washington -- In what doctor groups are hailing as a major win for patient safety, President Bush signed into law a measure that aims to make it easier for physicians to report medical errors in the hopes that others might learn from the mistakes.

The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 is the culmination of more than five years of debate on Capitol Hill. Discussions started after the Institute of Medicine in 1999 estimated that as many as 98,000 people die each year from preventable medical errors. The American Medical Association, specialty medical societies and other groups that applauded the bill's enactment said the final product of the negotiations was well worth the wait.

"The health care community has long been committed to improving patient safety, and significant progress has been made through new technology, research and education," said AMA President J. Edward Hill, MD. "But federal legislation is the crucial element needed to truly expand broad patient safety reforms nationwide."

The new statute directs the Dept. of Health and Human Services to certify a variety of public and private entities as patient safety organizations, or PSOs. Once approved, the groups will set up systems through which physicians, nurses, assistants and others can confidentially report information that could prove useful in bettering the quality of care.

The PSOs and HHS will attempt to identify trends within the error reports and feed patient safety recommendations back to the health care community.