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Previous Volume 348:851-855 February 27, 2003 Number 9 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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The Institute of Medicine's 2000 report To Err Is Human precipitated a firestorm of publicity on the issue of medical errors.¹ On the basis of the Harvard Medical Practice Study² and a similar analysis of Utah and Colorado hospitals,³ the report concluded that as many as 98,000 deaths occur annually in U.S. hospitals as a direct result of medical errors. This figure exceeds the number of deaths attributable annually to AIDS, motor vehicle accidents, or breast cancer.¹ Subsequent critiques have suggested that this estimate might be inaccurate, since some of the deaths documented in the original studies may have been . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Types of Errors

Using Technology

Frequent Interruptions with Paging

Orders and Medical Records

Sign-Out Procedures

Improving the Work Environment

Hours of Work

Location of Medical Charts and Equipment

Changing the Academic Culture

Reporting of Errors

Training in Procedures

Leadership

Conclusions

Source Information

From the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center (K.G.M.V.); the Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (K.G.M.V., D.G.); the Department of Health Care Systems, Wharton School (K.G.M.V.); and the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania (K.G.M.V.) — all in Philadelphia.

Related Letters:

Residents' Suggestions for Reducing Medical Errors
Leykum L. K., Volpp K., Grande D.
Extract | Full Text | PDF  
N Engl J Med 2003; 348:2263-2264, May 29, 2003. Correspondence

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