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Survey: Almost half of Americans worry about healthcare safety

Quality Improvement Monitor, November 18, 2004

Five years after an Institute of Medicine report focused attention on medical errors in hospitals, Americans say they do not believe the nation's quality of healthcare has improved, according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey.

Forty percent of Americans say the quality of healthcare has gotten worse in the past five years, while 17% say the quality has improved, according to the survey, conducted in conjunction with AHRQ and the Harvard School of Public Health. Nearly 38% say healthcare quality has remained the same since the 1999 release of "To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System."

The telephone survey of 2,012 adults conducted between July 7 and September 5 also revealed that 48% of Americans say they are concerned about the safety of the care they and their families receive. Fifty-five percent say they are dissatisfied with the quality of U.S. healthcare-up from 44% reporting the same in a survey four years ago.

"This survey shows that the challenge is not just to improve patient safety, but to convince the public that real progress is being made," Kaiser Family Foundation President Drew Altman said in a press release.

The challenge is to show the public that behind-the-scenes improvements such as health information technology upgrades advance the quality of care, said AHRQ Director Carolyn Clancy, MD.

"Many steps have been taken to improve patient safety and the greater use of health information technology," Clancy said. "However, these are largely 'system-related' improvements that aren't always apparent, even though consumers may recognize their importance."

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