Hospitals Still Resist Reporting Errors

Originally at PortlandTribune.com

August 20, 2009 -- Like children who dutifully show up for class but fail to do most of their homework, the state’s hospitals continue to refuse to comply with a state law requiring them to report most of their medical mistakes to a patient safety commission.

Oregon nursing homes are reporting even fewer of their adverse events, according to a recently released state review. And Oregon pharmacies, with the exception of Fred Meyer and a few independent drug stores, are not taking the initial step of signing up for the voluntary reporting program.

Last week, the Oregon Public Health Officer released a report on the three-year-old Oregon Patient Safety Commission. Depending on who you talk to, progress is either being made or has stalled in an effort to reduce errors in Oregon health care institutions. The report comes on the heels of a national study, released last week by the Hearst Corp., that showed hospitals are not cooperating with reporting systems in many states.

The Hearst report estimated that 200,000 American die every year from preventable medical mistakes, including hospital-acquired infections. State patient safety commissions were a response to a similar federal report 10 years ago that brought attention to the issue of medical mistakes.

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