Thursday, April 7, 2011

Errors still common in U.S. hospitals

CHICAGO (Reuters) – About one in three people in the United States will encounter some kind of mistake during a hospital stay, U.S. researchers said Thursday.

The finding, which is based on a new tool for measuring hospital errors, is about 10 times higher than estimates using older methods, suggesting much work remains in efforts to improve health quality.

"Without doubt, we've seen improvements in health care over the past decade, and even pockets of excellence, but overall progress has been agonizingly slow," said Susan Dentzer, editor-in-chief of Health Affairs, which published several studies on a special issue on patient safety.

The special issue came 10 years after an influential Institute of Medicine report that found significant gaps in health quality. Read the complete article.

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