Filed under: practice | Tags: doctor, errors, health care, medical errors, medical mistakes, physician, reporting
Medical errors happen. That’s just a fact. However, not all medical errors have to happen. Despite what we know about such incidences, we may know very little. At least one study shows that while the vast majority of health care providers agree that reporting medical errors will improve health care delivery, only a minority of doctors actually report their errors (see article).
According to the study, conducted by Lauris Kaldjian, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of internal medicine at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine:
“The answer to the gap may lie partly in other findings from the survey, he noted: Only 55 percent of the respondents knew how to report errors, and only 39 percent knew what kinds of errors to report.”
Another study confirms that health care organizations often have poor error reporting systems, leading physicians to “depend on discussions with colleagues rather than reporting to the hospital or health organization, and important information regarding medical errors and prevention is lost.”
Another explanation offered is that the culture of the health care industry and the stigma tattooed onto those who make such errors discourages providers from reporting their mistakes. Even though errors may be the fault of a system or process, as opposed to the individual, blame often lies with the provider.
Whatever the reason(s) may be, it’s clear that not reporting errors is a significant problem. Fair or not, doctors are held to a higher standard of practice than most professionals. Still, over a career, it is likely that most, if not all, physicians will make a mistake in treating their patients. But wouldn’t it be wise to have a system that allows doctors to learn from those errors rather than to hide or try to forget them?
