Blog

Fort Wayne Indiana Personal Injury Lawyer and Attorney Blog

New System for Patients to Report Medical Mistakes

New System for Patients to Report Medical Mistakes

This article outlines a new agency that the Obama administration will start to provide consumers a place to report patient safety events and concerns. Some research and reports suggest that up to a quarter of hospital patients experience “adverse events” with their medical care. The reasons for the reporting agency would be for improved safety, protocols, and standards within healthcare systems. Also, it could lead to cost savings in Medicare and Medicaid, as medical errors would not be paid for by the government, nor would reimbursements be made to companies failing to meet standards of care. This type of reporting would not come from the industry itself, but rather consumers. 

The patient reporting system will likely be available via the internet or phone and is expected to be available starting May 2013. It will provide consumers with confidentiality and be completely voluntary. The types of questions asked about incidents would be where the incident occurred, when, what happened, the specific details, type of harm (if any), what the patient believed was the cause of the mistake, whether or not the patient’s medical record reflected the error.

Read the full article.