Hospitals Search for Meaningful Answers in Admitting Medical Mistakes

Healthcare reform is at the top of most voters’ agendas this election year. Sure, all voters are in agreement that the infrastructure of healthcare is broken, and they cite the lack of affordable insurance as the only way to fix it. Revamping healthcare access and reforming managed care are priorities this election year.

Or, should they be?

With the news of a major medical mistake making headlines here in Minnesota and nationally, there is a renewed focus on an overlooked area in need of reform — especially within the scope of the acute care hospital: the secretive culture of the medical error.

For years, hospitals have always kept mum on many mistakes, both minor and life-threatening, entirely out of the fear of lawsuits. The issue has even cropped up this decade in the form of Bush administration legislation targeting abuses in tort law. But hospitals here in Minnesota and nationwide are beginning to realize that fighting fire with fire is not the only way to deal with hospital medical errors. They feel that true reform in this area begins with two words: “I’m sorry”. | LINK