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A proposed system that would encourage patients to report medical errors is getting mixed reviews from the healthcare industry and legal professionals, with many expressing concern that the reports would yield little useful information but drive up medical malpractice costs.
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The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) has posed liability risks for hospitals for many years, but EMTALA obligations have been limited mainly to the emergency department (ED). Now a recent decision by a federal district court in Texas suggests that the law could be applied much more broadly to inpatients as well.
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In response to news about a possible program that would encourage patients to report medical errors, eight U.S. congressmen wrote to Carolyn Clancy, MD, director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, to express their concerns.
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Under the plan proposed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), patients and their relatives would report medical errors and near misses through a web site and in telephone interviews.
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News: A woman prematurely gave birth to an infant in 2002. The womans labor was induced, and she experienced a prolonged vaginal birth. The fetus was under distress during delivery.
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News: The patient was a 45-year-old woman who had been experiencing chest discomfort. Her primary care physician told her to obtain a complete heart check-up at the hospital.
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Given the lack of reporting of errors and potential errors, it should be seen as good news that the number of sentinel events reported to The Joint Commission has gone up, right? The organization figures that voluntary reporting brings it maybe 1% of the total of what's out there, but the numbers are steadily rising.
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No one ever says "as memorable as a PowerPoint slide," do they? Or "as much fun as a white paper." If you want people to remember something important, you have to spark their interest. And when the material is as dry as patient safety goals, well, you have your work cut out for you.
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If trends hold in 2012, it will be the 13th straight year that nurses top the Gallup poll on ethics and honesty (http://www.gallup.com/poll/151460/Record-Rate-Honesty-Ethics-Members-Congress-Low.aspx). They are widely viewed by the public as being trustworthy and caring about what they do. Indeed, no one would suggest that a nurse does anything on the job that would knowingly imperil patients.
