Oregon Hospitals Patient Safety Efforts Improved Minimally, Report Shows

Data from the Oregon Patient Safety Commission suggest Oregon hospitals have not significantly improved in preventing medical errors since last year, according to a news report by The Oregonian.

According to the commission's data, 34 patients died from preventable medical errors in 2010, indicating no change in deaths from medical errors in 2009. Further, Oregon hospitals committed 10 wrong-site, wrong-patient or wrong-procedure errors last year, also indicating no change from 2009. Retained objects in patients improved minimally, from 21 incidents in 2009 to 18 incidents in 2010, according to the news report.

"The truth is, the culture of patient safety is not where it needs to be," Bethany Higgins, administrator of the Oregon Patient Safety Commission, said in The Oregonian news report.

The commission compiled the data from voluntary reports submitted by 56 of Oregon's 58 hospitals. One healthcare expert, Rick Waller, MD, chief of surgery at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Ore., said the inflated numbers may be due to increased reporting by healthcare providers. Other critics say voluntary reporting, which may miss a large majority of preventable error cases, could underestimate the true rate of medical errors, according to the news report.

Another report from the Oregon Patient Safety Commission shows hospitals are making greater strides in healthcare-associated infections, particularly in the number of central line-associated bloodstream infections.

Read the news report about patient safety in Oregon.

Related Articles on Patient Safety:
Montana Patient Safety Act Awaits Governor's Signature
Five Nevada Hospital Infection Bills Likely to Move Forward
NJAASC Issues Statement in Response to Report of Violations by Surgery Centers

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