Despite efforts, medical errors persist

STANFORD, Calif., Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Despite efforts to reduce U.S. hospital medical mistakes, a five-year study of 10 North Carolina hospitals found things are not getting better, researchers say.

Dr. Paul Sharek of Stanford University School of Medicine in California and colleagues at Harvard Medical School and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Massachusetts say that since the 1999 report by the institute that estimated about 100,000 preventable medical errors occurred annually there have been concerted efforts to reduce the error rate.

Teams of reviewers from within and outside the 10 randomly selected hospitals in North Carolina examined the hospital records from January 2002 to December 2007.

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found evidence of 588 instances of harm to patients, with the harm identified as temporary about 80 percent of the time.

Most medically induced harm in inpatient settings is minor or reversible, but 50 cases were classified as life-threatening, 17 resulted in permanent harm to a patient and 14 deaths were attributed in whole or in part to medical errors, the study says.

"We found that harm rates -- in a state that was very engaged in patient safety -- did not change over time. This was a little surprising to all of us," Sharek, the study author, says in a statement. "Our findings are a call to action for the healthcare system. We need a nationwide strategy for reducing harm from medical care."