Medical Errors- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
Medical Errors- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
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May 16, 2000
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In This Issue:
Medical Errors
BWH’s Center for Excellence in Nursing Practice
Lily Kravitz Nursing Studies Award
FY 2000 2nd Quarter Results:
AIDSWalk 2000
ASK YOURSELF
“Volunteers Meet the Challenge”
Wednesday’s Boston Globe reported on the progress of a proposal before the Massachusetts legislature to create a patient safety center to track medical errors and coordinate efforts to prevent them. The public interest in such a center, which would be the first of its kind, is part of the national dialogue on reducing medical errors and recognizes the fact that errors can occur in any system, especially in one as complex as the delivery of health care. This is an exceptionally complex issue that cuts to the very essence of quality care. At Brigham and Women's Hospital, we should be proud of the leadership we have provided through research, innovation and teaching on this issue. At the center of the national dialogue on medical errors have been several BWH researchers, including Troyen Brennan, MD; David Bates, MD; and Gil Kuperman, MD. In fact, Dr. Brennan’s study of medical errors at New York hospitals helped shape the findings of the Institute of Medicine report released late last year that indicated that medical errors cause between 44,000 and 98,000 US deaths annually. Recently, in the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Brennan addressed this issue once again in a thoughtful editorial. You can read this editorial on Pike Notes, BWH’s Intranet site, at http:// healthcare.partners.org/bwhintranet. Other BWH researchers have been featured in a wide array of national media, from The New York Times to Dateline, thus furthering the hospital’s reputation in this essential area of care. Our efforts are paying off. Safety has improved, techniques have been enhanced and developments, such as the computer order entry system pioneered at BWH, have been introduced to help offset human error. As we continue to advance the forefront of medicine, it is pivotal that we make error prevention an area of emphasis. We need additional public resources to support the development of refined systems, and confidentiality issues must be addressed to sustain full and open consideration of this issue for the benefit of all. We have asked Dr. Bates and Paula Johnson, MD, to organize a formal approach to this issue for BWH, and we will report back to you on a regular basis. As an academic medical center, with teaching at the core of our mission, we can best serve our patients through open dialogue. Only then can we truly begin to understand the immense complexities of medicine and work toward improved outcomes. Sincerely, Jeffrey Otten Anthony D. Whittemore President Chief Medical Officer