The Effectiveness of Reporting
How safe is the health care system in United States? Shockingly, a flight on a domestic airline is safer than a stay in the hospital (Webster). In the United States, a patient has a 36 in 100,000 chance of dying in the hospital from a medical mistake. According to the Institute of Medicine, in November 1999, the estimated death toll each year due to medical mistakes has reached up to 98,000 (When Doctors Make Mistakes). In fact, deaths caused by medical mistakes rank as the fifth leading cause of death in the United States (Webster). What can be done to decrease the number of medical mistakes? Some feel the obvious answer is more regulation; however, more regulation of hospitals to reduce medical error is not necessarily beneficial. According to an online source, Facts on File, on February 22, 2000, Bill Clinton proposed new regulations for administering medical care. His proposal, based on federal officials' review of a 1999 Institute of Medicine report on medical errors, called for a state-based national mandatory error reporting system. In this system, hospitals would be required to publicly disclose serious, preventable adverse events, but not the names of patients and health care professionals involved. All states
First, proponents of the system believe such a system can prevent errors. The core of the problem lies beneath reporting, but in the design of the health care system. " Something must be done to improve the health care system. Secondly, in an online article, the Institute of Medicine says the information is critical to " identify the extent of the problem, analyze data, and achieve solutions. Physicians would benefit from sharing experiences that diminish the concept of perfectionism and recognize mistakes as a natural part of practicing medicine. Third, regulation is its lack of effectiveness. In addition, to their poorly designed systems, one in three hospitals is losing money due to financial problems. Errors and mistakes are occurring unbeknownst to hospital administrators. Too common, throughout the country, these mistakes are taking place in hospitals, outpatient clinics, and doctors' offices. Wade, a senior vice president of the American Hospital Association (Crane). John Eisenberg, the Director of the Agency of Health Care Research and Quality, questions the effectiveness of reporting, saying "there was no evidence that mandatory error-reporting programs currently operating in some states actually helped reduce the incidence of errors in those states" (Medicine and Health: Clinton Calls for Reporting). Posting doctors past histories would only confuse patients and lead to misunderstanding. According to Thomas Binder, a trial lawyer, it is a part of practicing medicine to make mistakes.
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Acceptance Essays
