Quality & Patient Safety

WI bill to keep error data out of malpractice suits

Patient Safety Monitor Alert, March 8, 2006

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A Wisconsin bill would allow hospitals to use and analyze medical error data without exposing the information to inclusion in possible malpractice suits. The bill has passed through the legislature and is awaiting the governor's signature, according to the Associated Press.

Hospitals contend that they need to study the data to help reduce errors overall. Opponents of the bill contend that patients who are injured have a right to the data in question, which could show that certain hospitals have a history of negligence or difficulty with specific procedures or issues.

Without the protection, said proponents of the bill, hospitals could not study the error data for fear of liability.

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