Medical mistakes

February 20, 2008

Shadowfax: “What is needed is a safe method for docs to routinely report the ‘near misses,’ like mine, where they can be reviewed and discussed and the contributing factors identified. Where the verdict won’t be ‘Dr SF is a bad doctor,’ but ‘factors X and Y contributed to Dr SF’s error which then caused Z.’ Where there is protection for health care providers who self-report to encourage the capture of as many cases as possible, to better extract the data and deduce the ultimate causes.

I don’t see this happening in my lifetime. The tort system is too entrenched and consumes too much of the oxygen in the room, and represents a prohibitive barrier to physician disclosures.”



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{ 2 comments }

1 Anonymous February 20, 2008 at 1:16 pm

I think it is called a morbidity and mortality conference.

2 Anonymous February 21, 2008 at 2:37 pm

The “tort system” has nothing to do with your unwillingness to report “near misses”. No damages means no case, so it has no effect. Physician pride is the problem.

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