medical error

At Modern Healthcare, Natasha Nicol and Leanne Huminski examine how South Carolina's 460-bed McLeod Regional Medical Center cut its medical error rate by focusing on culture, automation and process. A 1999 IOM report on hospital errors shed light on the problem and McLeod took steps to prevent errors where it could. "The goal of the culture change was to create a sense of urgency regarding medication practices that lead to harm, and to engage employees to create a safer …

It's never easy to admit you've made a mistake, but it's even harder for physicians to look a patient in the eye and admit that they've made a medical error. Many have attributed reluctance to accept blame on medical malpractice threats but a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine finds that the "culture of medicine" is to blame. Article

> In a study funded by the Commonwealth Fund of 7,000 patients in six countries (Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S.), researchers found that patients in the U.S. paid the most for medical care while at the same time suffering the most medical errors. More than a third of Americans surveyed said they'd been the victim of some kind of medical error. In addition to having the highest rate of reported medical errors, American pay more for healthcare than …

> Despite boasting quite a collection of medical specialists and treating 100,000 patients, Lewis-Gale Clinic in Roanoke, VA filed for bankruptcy in February 2006. What can healthcare providers learn from Lewis-Gale's mistakes, and how can they avoid the same fate? Article

> University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers has netted a $79 million surplus this year, which it plans to reinvest into patient …

Perhaps the dominant theme of the decade in healthcare has been patient safety. Since the 1999 IOM report, hospitals and doctors have focused on improving the medical error situation. Last week, Don Berwick's IHI announced that a precise number of lives (123,000 and change) had been saved since the voluntary 100,000 Lives Campaign started. This week, the carping started with The …

Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama describe their proposal to make patient safety a key to medical malpractice reform in an article in the New England Journal of Medicine. The proposal envisions the creation of an Office of Patient Safety and Health Care Quality within the Department of Health and Human Services. A National Medical Error Disclosure and Compensation (MEDiC) program would encourage providers to report errors promptly and push claimants to settle cases quickly. Article

California is the latest state to consider a law that would force hospitals to publicly report medical errors. State Sen. Arlene Alquist (D) proposed a bill this week that could impose the harshest reporting requirements in the nation on California hospitals. Under the proposal, hospitals would have 48 hours to report any medical error--including non-life threatening incidents such as giving a patient the wrong medication--to state health officials. Data would be publicly posted on a …

Health officials in California revealed a second death of a patient at a Kaiser Permanente hospital involving a serious medical error. A 12 year old girl died at Santa Clara Medical Center after receiving a double dose of epinephrine. Last week, it was announced that a patient in San Jose died after being injected with the wrong chemotherapy drug. The hospitals said they will adopt new guidelines approved by the California intended to prevent such mistakes.

- see this article from The San Francisco Chronicle

The family of a former teacher who died after a preventable medical error at Seattle's Virginia Mason Medical Center has reached an unusual settlement with the hospital. Mary McClinton died during surgery to repair a blood vessel after being injected with a surgical cleaning solution. Virginia Mason publicly apologized for the error and accepted responsibility. The healthcare provider will make a charitable contribution to a foundation set up in McClinton's name to advance medical …