PROFESSIONAL ISSUES

To err is human, to report is hard

Quick View. March 17, 2008.

Hypothetically ...
84%	Said reporting errors improves quality.
73%	Said they would be likely to report minor error.
92%	Would be likely to report major error.
But when mistakes do happen ...
36%	Acknowledged they had made at least one major or minor error.
18%	Reported minor error.
17%	Did not report minor error.
4%	Reported major error.
4%	Did not report major error.

The Intitute of Medicine's estimate of deaths from medical errors has been difficult to quantify and address.

In 1999, the IOM said medical errors kill as many as 98,000 Americans each year. Efforts to reliably measure and tackle the problem have been hobbled by "pervasive" underreporting of errors, according to a Jan. 14 Archives of Internal Medicine study. Researchers surveyed more than 330 faculty and resident doctors at three U.S. medical centers and found "a gap between attitude and practice."

Note: respondents could give more than one answer. Totals are rounded.

Source: "Reporting Medical Errors to Improve Patient Safety," Archives of Internal Medicine, Jan 14

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