Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Medical Errors as a cause of death
A new scare report says that medical errors cause 195,000 deaths a year, the sixth leading cause of death in the US. We must need more Edwards-like lawyers, crusading to reform the health care system and make it safer for the little guy.
Actually, the reverse is probably the case. The Institute of Medicine, a think tank, wrote a report in 1999 called To Err is Human where they analyzed the causes of medical error and made recommendations as to how to fix the systems. They strongly recommended protecting error reporting from legal discovery.
Why is this so important? As a doctor, I know that if I make an error and am up-front about it, I take the risk of losing my livelihood and my house. I also know that being human, I will make errors. Sometimes, analysis of groups of errors leads to improved systems that prevent future problems. Examples are the airline industry and anesthesiology, who have revamped systems to reduce accidents.
We doctors know how ineffective the threat of lawsuits is. The incompetent doctor with the great bedside manner cruises through his career with no problems, the technically excellent one with some personality challenges gets nailed. A scared doctor is not a better doctor, although he probably will be a more expensive one.
We desperately need tort reform, not only to prevent bankrupting the health care system but to make it work better. Send money to Thune, Coors, and Bush, even if it's just $50.
Actually, the reverse is probably the case. The Institute of Medicine, a think tank, wrote a report in 1999 called To Err is Human where they analyzed the causes of medical error and made recommendations as to how to fix the systems. They strongly recommended protecting error reporting from legal discovery.
Why is this so important? As a doctor, I know that if I make an error and am up-front about it, I take the risk of losing my livelihood and my house. I also know that being human, I will make errors. Sometimes, analysis of groups of errors leads to improved systems that prevent future problems. Examples are the airline industry and anesthesiology, who have revamped systems to reduce accidents.
We doctors know how ineffective the threat of lawsuits is. The incompetent doctor with the great bedside manner cruises through his career with no problems, the technically excellent one with some personality challenges gets nailed. A scared doctor is not a better doctor, although he probably will be a more expensive one.
We desperately need tort reform, not only to prevent bankrupting the health care system but to make it work better. Send money to Thune, Coors, and Bush, even if it's just $50.
# posted by Unknown @ 3:49 PM 
