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Study: Patients rank U.S. last on safety

Ambulatory Safety Monitor, April 6, 2006

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Despite having the highest healthcare expenditures per capita, the U.S. ranked last in patient safety in a recent study by The Commonwealth Fund that surveyed patients in Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the U.K., and the U.S.

The U.S. was last among the six countries in three patient-perceived measures of safety:

• Adults in the U.S. were more likely to report receiving wrong medications or doses in the prior two years
• Americans were more likely to believe a medical mistake had been made in their treatment
• For those who had a lab test in the last two years, nearly one in four (23%) Americans reported being given incorrect lab results or experienced delays in notification about abnormal results-more than double the rates reported in Germany and the U.K.

However, the authors of the study warn against relying solely on patients' perceptions to rank safety. "Differences in education, cultural norms, and media attention, as well as the subjective nature of communication between doctors and patients, might influence patients' perceptions of error," the authors write in the report.

Click here to view the study.

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