Recent data suggests Oregon hospitals have not made significant improvements in preventing medical errors since last year, according to a news report by The Oregonian.
Data from the Oregon Patient Safety Commission showed 34 patients died from preventable medical errors in 2010, indicating no change in deaths from medical errors in 2009. Further, Oregon hospitals committed 10 wrong-site, wrong-patient or wrong-procedure errors last year, also indicating no change from 2009. Retained objects in patients improved minimally, from 21 incidents in 2009 to 18 incidents in 2010, according to the news report.
"The truth is, the culture of patient safety is not where it needs to be," Bethany Higgins, administrator of the Oregon Patient Safety Commission, said in The Oregonian news report.
The commission compiled the data from voluntary reports submitted by 56 of Oregon's 58 hospitals. One healthcare expert, Rick Waller, MD, chief of surgery at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Ore., said the inflated numbers may be due to increased reporting by healthcare providers. Other critics say voluntary reporting, which may miss a large majority of preventable error cases, could underestimate the true rate of medical errors, according to the news report.
Another report from the Oregon Patient Safety Commission shows hospitals are making greater strides in healthcare-associated infections, particularly in the number of central line-associated bloodstream infections.
Read the news report about patient safety in Oregon.
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Data from the Oregon Patient Safety Commission showed 34 patients died from preventable medical errors in 2010, indicating no change in deaths from medical errors in 2009. Further, Oregon hospitals committed 10 wrong-site, wrong-patient or wrong-procedure errors last year, also indicating no change from 2009. Retained objects in patients improved minimally, from 21 incidents in 2009 to 18 incidents in 2010, according to the news report.
"The truth is, the culture of patient safety is not where it needs to be," Bethany Higgins, administrator of the Oregon Patient Safety Commission, said in The Oregonian news report.
The commission compiled the data from voluntary reports submitted by 56 of Oregon's 58 hospitals. One healthcare expert, Rick Waller, MD, chief of surgery at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Ore., said the inflated numbers may be due to increased reporting by healthcare providers. Other critics say voluntary reporting, which may miss a large majority of preventable error cases, could underestimate the true rate of medical errors, according to the news report.
Another report from the Oregon Patient Safety Commission shows hospitals are making greater strides in healthcare-associated infections, particularly in the number of central line-associated bloodstream infections.
Read the news report about patient safety in Oregon.
Related Articles on Patient Safety:
Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority Outlines Shortcomings in Radiology Services
Study: Medication Burden, Patient Age Risk Factors for Adverse Drug Events
California Laws on Infection Control, Reporting Have Yet to Produce Real Improvements