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Up to 2,000 patients in Missouri hospitals die each year from preventable medical errors, according to a report released July 7 by the Missouri Commission on Patient Safety.

Patient Safety Monitor Alert, July 14, 2004

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Up to 2,000 patients in Missouri hospitals die each year from preventable medical errors, according to a report released July 7 by the Missouri Commission on Patient Safety.

The report recommends better medical error reporting systems for Missouri hospitals and tougher licensing standards. It also recommends the following:

>> Stronger disciplinary actions for practitioners
>> Improved safety practices at hospitals and clinics
>> Greater use of information technology
>> The creation of a safety resource center
>> A blame-free culture that would protect anyone who report potentially unsafe practices from reprisals

Already in the planning stages is the creation of the Missouri Center for Patient Safety, a private, nonprofit organizations that would work to reduce errors, create a voluntary error reporting system, and provide more consumer safety education, according to a report in The Kansas City Star.

Noting that malpractice lawsuits have done little to deter or reduce the amount of medical errors that patients suffer, the report also calls for a somewhat unprecedented collaboration between physicians and attorneys to tackle patient safety outside of the courtroom, according to the Star.

"One of the things we agreed on was to shift from a culture of blame to a culture of patient safety," says Kenneth Vuylsteke, a member of the commission and chairman of the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys' health law committee.

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