Most hospital mistakes not reported

A recent study published from the United States Department of Health and Human Services shows that as many as 86% of hospital errors that cause harm to Medicare patients are not reported. The report notes that hospitals are required to have reporting mechanisms in place but many doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers may not even know when to use them. Officials say that better training and protocols are necessary to ensure proper usage of these medical error reporting systems. Some healthcare workers have explained that the reason they don’t report some medical mistakes is because they believe some of the adverse events were normal side effects of a treatment or just so common that there was no reason to report it. However, the concern of some patient advocates is that hospital administrators and healthcare workers may be trying to avoid reporting their mistakes because they are worried about a medical malpractice lawsuit. Advocates say that the point of reporting medical errors is to improve patient safety and care in the long-term by allowing analysis of what goes wrong in the hospital that leads to mistakes. However, some doctors and nurses may see it as something that is embarrassing and are afraid of being blamed for a wrongful death or negligence. A top medical malpractice lawyer in New York explained that some patients aren’t even sure what caused their injury, illness or complication that may be attributable to a doctor’s mistake or nurse’s error. Some of these patients require an advocate, such as an attorney, who can investigate the situation and help discover the facts. Read about how an experienced medical malpractice attorney successfully recovered millions of dollars in compensation for victims of physician malpractice and failure to diagnose an infection. Find out more about the recent report on reporting of hospital mistakes here.

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