Janice Wegman
Summary- TO Err Is Human
V.Parker
Ohio University-Chillicothe
Spring 2015

How safe are you in the hospital? The amount of life threating errors made in U.S. hospitals is unacceptable, anywhere from 44,000-98,000 people die yearly from avoidable errors. A medical error is defined as” Errors or mistakes committed by health professionals which result in harm to the patient. They include errors in diagnosis (DIAGNOSTIC ERRORS), errors in the administration of drugs and other medications (MEDICATION ERRORS), errors in the performance of surgical procedures, in the use of other types of therapy, in the use of equipment, and in the interpretation of laboratory findings. Medical errors are differentiated from MALPRACTICE in that the former are regarded as honest mistakes or accidents while the latter is the result of negligence, reprehensible ignorance, or criminal intent.” (Definition of Medical Errors http://www.reference.md/files/D019/mD019300.html.) The monetary cost of medical errors range from $17 billion -$29 billion, and also affects the trust the community has in the facilities, which results in loss of revenues. There are 4 main types of errors that result in the loss of life. Diagnostic, Treatment, Preventive and Others. The largest amount of these mistakes are caused by caused by faulty systems and processes resulting in human errors. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) put out a report in November 1999 that was meant to be used by all healthcare providers to follow to reduce medical errors by 50 percent over a period of 5 years. Its strategy is a four-tier plan that includes creating a Center for Patient Safety, this committee would oversee setting goals and procedures to ensure safety of patients is always at the primary consideration. Creating a national reporting system that could identify if a certain facility is having a large amount of medical errors and hold them