JCAHO commissioner recommends changes to the malpractice system

Patient Safety Monitor Alert

November 23, 2005

A Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations commissioner recommended changing malpractice law to increase healthcare's ability to discover and address trends in medical errors. Allowing hospitals to report information on medical errors to a database for study could lead to solutions reducing the overall incidences of error, according to Commissioner Eric Larson's op-ed piece in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The op-ed was co-written by physician and lawyer William Sage.

By allowing hospitals to report errors in a manner that exempts the information from malpractice suits, hospitals will have a better understanding of the errors, according to Larson and Sage. The information, collected nationwide, could help physicians and hospitals determine how mistakes are made and avoid those problems in the future.

Mandating disclosures but protecting apologies and explanations from malpractice suits can also ease tension between the patient and physician.

To read the complete op-ed, click <A HREF="herehttp://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/248563_medmal17.html">here</A>.