Newswise — At least 44,000 preventable deaths per year in the United States are due to medical errors. This makes medical errors the 8th leading cause of death in the United States, claiming a higher death toll than motor vehicle accidents (43,458), breast cancer (42,297), or AIDS (16,516).
In response, the medical community is developing ways to reduce medical errors—one technique, a state medical error reporting system (MERS), is explored in an issue brief released this week by the Center for Urban Policy and the Environment.
"Causes of medical errors are usually complex," said Patricia Ebright, coauthor of the report and assistant professor at the IUPUI School of Nursing. "The individuals involved in medical errors generally have good intentions and are following best practices. When an error occurs, it is usually the result of multiple system failures."
For example, Ebright said, investigators of an error in a hospital might find that several different system problems contributed. These could include an inability to keep all staff educated on a seldom-used procedure; a practice of stocking medications in the wrong drawer; and staffing allocations based correctly on the number of employees per shift, but not on the expertise needed for patients currently receiving care.
Ebright said that the traditional approach to the performance of healthcare workers has been to expect perfection and hold individuals accountable if an error occurs, but blame can have serious repercussions. "We need a non-blame culture and protection for the individuals involved in order to encourage open and honest reporting of errors. This open discussion lets us analyze what went wrong, and the analysis helps us improve systems so we can avoid similar mistakes in the future."
Ebright said that policymakers in Indiana are already discussing how best to design and implement a MERS—an effort endorsed by Governor Mitch Daniels. At least 22 states are using MERS already, but state regulations vary, and the variances are caused by factors discussed in the issue brief. "We can benefit from the experience of other states when we create a reporting system for Indiana. The issue brief outlines concepts that policymakers need to keep in mind to develop an effective MERS."
Titled, A Challenge for Indiana: Medical Error Reporting System Could Boost Patient Safety, the issue brief is part of a series of reports created with academics and leaders by the Center for Urban Policy and the Environment with support from Lilly Endowment, Inc. It is also one of the Center's first research products on health policy, an area that the Center recently began to include in its investigations and research.
John L. Krauss, Center director, said, "Our faculty have a wealth of knowledge, but often their help is not readily available to policymakers. As part of the Center's mission to provide critical information so leaders can make informed decisions, we have developed the ability to produce reports that can be quickly disseminated to policymakers in Indiana. We want to encourage all faculty who are focused on policy issues to work with the Center for Urban Policy and the Environment. In particular, since health policy is a new focus for the Center, we want to offer a special invitation to health policy researchers. We are all aware of the importance of healthcare and its effect on the quality of life."
For more information and the complete report, contact the Center at (317) 261-3000, or visit the Center's Web site (http://www.urbancenter.iupui.edu/). The report can be downloaded from the publications section on the Center's Web site.
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