Prevention of medical errors

I just read an article stating that a recent government (IG at HHS) study estimated that 15,000 medicare patients die every month from care given to them in hospitals. Peter Pronovost of Johns Hopkins University stated that medical mistakes are "an enormous public-health problem."

Everyone is concerned about the cost and accessibility of healthcare. "Tort reform", such as caps on damages, higher burdens of proof, shortened statutes of limitation, caps on attorneys fees, apology protection, and health courts, seeks to give physicians increased protection against medical malpractice lawsuits. It does nothing to protect patients and public health. True reform, on the other hand, starts far, far upstream from caps on damages and the like, all of which are intended to slow or stop litigation. True reform begins with examination of the physician's conduct shortly after an adverse event. Between the adverse event and the filing of a lawsuit, what did the physician do: contact the patient/family immediately, explain what happened, explain investigation to take place, offer compensation, if appropriate, involve healthcare team members, if appropriate, and improve systems and procedures, based on patient-provided information. If we begin to collect and analyse this information, we can begin to understand more about the reasons lawsuits are filed (or not). We can also begin to address the impact of these conversations on rapid improvement in healthcare processes, based on the patient's observations and ideas.

If surveys address the physicians' responsibilities, as I suggest, I have no doubt that it will become very clear very quickly that physicians who act quickly and accept responsibility, when appropriate, are rarely sued. That informaton is already available but perhaps not in the mainsteam media. Perhaps that is why that information continues to get brushed under the carpet in favor of the mainstream media's focus on "tort reform."

Tort reform does nothing to alleviate the "enormous public health problem" associated with medical mistakes.