Advocates of medical error reporting say disclosure can reduce errors and help patients “shop around” for the safest hospitals. Opponents of mandatory reporting say Iowa hospitals already voluntarily report their medical outcomes, and government regulation would not create the necessary buy-in among providers. A spokesman for the Iowa Hospital Association said the requirement could also stifle innovation as providers focus on meeting the mandate.
The IHA supports hospitals providing information to the Iowa Healthcare Collaborative, an organization that posts PDFs with medical outcomes of procedures performed at Iowa hospitals. Unlike other state and national databases, the charts are not searchable by hospital.
The Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals supports the move to mandatory reporting, according to the report. Dean Lerner, the department’s former director, said states that have implemented mandatory reporting have seen more significant changes than those that have not.
Read the KCRG report on mandatory error reporting.
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