From July 2003 to March 2004, the researchers surveyed a geographically diverse group of more than 1,000 physicians and surgeons currently practicing in rural and urban areas in Missouri and Washington.

Fifty-six percent reported a prior involvement with a serious error, 74 percent with a minor error and 66 percent with a near miss. Fifty-four percent agreed with the statement that "medical errors are usually caused by failures of care delivery systems, not failures of individuals."

Ninety-five percent of physicians agreed that they needed to know about errors in their organization to improve patient safety, while 83 percent said they had used at least one formal reporting mechanism, most commonly reporting an error to risk management, or completing an incident report.

Physicians were more likely to discuss serious errors, minor errors and near misses with their colleagues than to report them to a risk management or to a patient safety official, the survey said.

The study was funded by the Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.