Why We Must Be Concerned

A report published by the Institute of Medicine revealed that:

• 44,000–98,000 annual deaths occur in the U.S. as a result of errors which occure in the health care setting

• Medical errors are the leading cause, followed by surgical mistakes and complications

• More Americans die from medical errors than from breast cancer, AIDS, or car accidents

• 7% of hospital patients experience a serious medication error

Estimates suggest that the cost associated with medical errors is $8–29 billion annually.

In response to this data the Federal Government called for action...

By 5 years;

• Reduce medical errors by 50%,

• Reduce nosocomial infections by 90%; and

• Eliminate "never should have happened events" (such as wrong-site surgery)

 

TO ACCOMPLISH THIS GOAL WE CAN'T OVERLOOK THE FACT THAT:

Root-cause-analysis studies reveal that medical errors are often related to system errors -
breakdowns in the expected performance of groups or teams.

 

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