32 Oregonians killed from preventable errors last year
In the last year, at least 32 people were killed by preventable medical errors, according to a recent report published by The Oregon Patient Safety Commission.
The Commission was established in 2003 as a join effort between Oregon health care professionals and state legislators. Their goals are to improve patient safety by the creation of a voluntary, confidential adverse event reporting system and sharing evidence-based prevention practices to improve outcomes.
According to their report, hospitals reported 136 incidents in 2009. In 22 percent of cases, patients suffered minimal or no detectable harm. But half of the incidents resulted in serious injury or death. In nine cases, a surgical team operated on the wrong body part or the wrong patient. Surgeons accidentally left objects in patients 21 times – despite the commission setting a target of eliminating this type of error.Oregon hospitals made progress in three other patient safety targets set by the 17-member commission: establishing electronic medical records, adopting evidence-based safety practices, and promoting a workplace culture of safety. According to the report, 61 percent of Oregon hospitals have developed electronic medical record systems with built-in error checking and decision support, significantly more than the national average of 51 percent.
And 87 percent of Oregon hospitals met targets for giving surgical patients antibiotics on time, up from 75 percent compliance at the beginning of 2008. Oregon's performance is about equal to the national average on this measure, the report noted.
However, even with some progress, the process of notifying patients affected by medical errors in writing, is almost nonexistent it Oregon. The report stated that though hospitals verbally inform patients of the mistake, following through with a written report is rare.
Eight hospitals have shown that compliance is possible. They've notified patients of adverse events in writing for every serious harm event since reporting began in 2006, according to the commission.
Read more about how we can make hospitals safer and the full article from The Oregonian.
More nurses per patients lead to safer hospitals
The Minnesota Nurses Association had a tumultuous month. After their demands for a set nurse-to-patient ratio were refused, they planned a strike. Asserting that patient safety was at stake, when the hospitals refused to accept their proposals, the nurses moved ahead with a one-day strike on June 10. The hospitals still refused to budge and the nurses planned to begin an open-ended strike on Tuesday, July 6.
However, Union leaders decided to dropped their demands for rigid nurse-to-patient ratios and established a tentative agreement with the hospitals the day the strike was supposed to begin. (Read more). The hospitals argued that they could not afford to have a set nurse-to-patient ratio and still pay their nurses wages and pensions. But is that true?
How do you decrease instances of malpractice suits? Lower the instances of medical errors.
During the ongoing debate over health care restructuring and reform, the cost of providing insurance has been a major concern for policy makers, providers and insurance companies themselves. All cite the numerous instances of malpractice suits and high cost of malpractice insurance. The RAND study is the first to demonstrate a link between improving performance and lowering medical malpractice claims and therefore lowering the cost of malpractice insurance.
