TO ERR IS HUMAN

Experts estimate that as many as 98 000 people die in any given year from medical errors that occur in hospitals That s more than die from motor vehicle accidents breast cancer or AIDS three causes that receive far more public attention Indeed more people die annually from medication errors than from workplace injuries Add the financial cost to the human tragedy and medical error easily rises to the top ranks of urgent widespread public problems To Err Is Human breaks the silence that has surrounded medical errors and their consequence but not by pointing fingers at caring health care professionals who make honest mistakes After all to err is human Instead this book sets forth a national agenda with state and local implications for reducing medical errors and improving patient safety through the design of a safer health system This volume reveals the often startling statistics of medical error and the disparity between the incidence of error and public perception of it given many patients expectations that the medical profession always performs perfectly A careful examination is made of how the surrounding forces of legislation regulation and market activity influence the quality of care provided by health care organizations and then looks at their h