Medical Errors In U.S. Healthcare Organizations: Have We Made Any Progress?

Since the Institute of Medicine’s landmark 1999 report on medical errors, mandates, legislation, and recommendations have been forced on the U.S. healthcare industry. However, only limited progress has been made. Part of the difficulty is identifying the scope of the problem, which has been far larger than thought since the advent of new reporting tools. The major causes of medical errors lie in the lack of a (a) pervasive safety culture, (b) commitment by top healthcare organization management to reduce medical errors, and (c) integrated IT systems, including electronic health records. Compared to other “high reliability” organizations that have achieved excellent results in regard to safety, healthcare is perceived as lagging far behind. Healthcare is not the sole industry needing a safety culture. However, many healthcare leaders perceive existing industry tools that high reliability organizations routinely use as irrelevant. Positive change will come when attitudes change and healthcare organizations embrace the solutions that other industrial organizations have utilized to produce satisfactory safety outcomes.