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Study shows medical errors still kill many patients

Ambulatory Safety Monitor, May 19, 2005

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A new study shows that despite an increased focus on patient safety over the past five years, as many as 98,000 Americans die each year because of medical errors, according to USA Today.

Since a report issued in 2000 by the Institute of Medicine revealing that thousands of Americans die from medical mistakes, hospitals have taken steps to improve patient safety. But the change has been slow nationwide, and the death rate has not changed significantly, according to the study.

The researches for the study, published May 18 in The Journal of the American Medical Association, blame "the complexity of health care systems, a lack of leadership, the reluctance of doctors to admit errors and an insurance reimbursement system that rewards errors - hospitals can bill for additional services needed when patients are injured by mistakes - but often will not pay for practices that reduce those errors," according to USA Today.

"The medical community now knows what it needs to do to deal with the problem. It just has to overcome the barriers to doing it," says study co author Lucian Leape of Harvard's School of Public Health, according to USA Today.

Some progress was made through computerizing prescriptions and adding pharmacist to medical teams. Leape say hospitals need to face more pressure to change and suggested that perhaps bonuses could be offered for hospitals that improve their care.

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