Health & Human Services Study Finds Major Medical Errors Not Being Reported
A recent study conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services found that major medical errors such as leaving surgical instruments in patient after surgery, wrong site surgeries, and operations performed on the wrong patient are going unreported by hospitals. The study was part of an overall research project concerning hospitals that participate in Medicare.
According to the study, some 15,000 medical errors are not reported each month. The study found that 44% of these unreported medical errors were deemed preventable errors.
Besides the harm caused to the individual patient who suffers as a result of the medical error, the hospital or medical institution forfeits an opportunity to learn from these errors when they go unreported. This makes many of these errors prone to being repeated in the future.
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