Bill of Health: Hospital Errors

In the past, hospitals feared telling the public about their mistakes. Today, more medical institutions are admitting their mistakes and trying to learn from them. NBR Correspondent Jeff Yastine reports on the latest efforts hospitals are making to track and reduce errors.

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External Links/Articles*

• Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)
  This links to the DHHS Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which offers information about "Medical Errors & Patient Safety."
• Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (IOM)
  The IOM is a nonprofit organization that offers "advice on matters of biomedical science, medicine, and health." This links to information about a frequently cited report published by the IOM in 1999 titled, "To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System." The full report must be purchased, but a brief is available for free download.
• Joint Commission on Accredidation of Healthcare Organizations
  The Joint Commission is an indepdendent, not-for-profit organization that "evaluates and accredits nearly 15,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States." This links to information about the Joint Commission's annual publication, "Improving America's Hospitals: A Report on Quality and Safety."
• Journal of General Internal Medicine
  This links an October 2005 journal article titled, "Is 80 the Cost of Saving Lives? Reduced Duty Hours, Errors, and Cost."
• Quantros
  Quantros makes "clinically-driven safety and quality software solutions" for healthcare providers. The company's president, Dr. Sanjaya Kuma, is interviewed in Jeff Yastine's report.
• University of Miami-Jackson Memorial Hospital
  This links to UM-JMH's Center for Patient Safety. The center's efforts to reduce errors are profiled in Jeff Yastine's report. In addition, the center's director, Dr. David Birnbach, is interviewed in the report.

*Clicking these external links will take you off the NBR web site on PBS.org. NBR has no affiliation with these sites.