In 2000, the Institution of Medicine uncovered those 98,000
patients each year die due to medical errors. This number shocked
America and gathered media attention across the country quickly. At
first, it seemed as if the country was determined to fix this issue but,
media attention died out and the country moved on to other issues.
This is an issue that must be resolved in order to guarantee patient
safety. Unfortunately, the only people who can fix issues are the
providers that cause the mistakes themselves. Holding hospitals
accountable for their actions proves difficult as providers fear
reprimanding actions for their mistakes. This causes under reporting,
which makes you question how high that 98,000 number actually is.
The problem is that we are not able to measure the success of the
IOM’s call to action as these figures are not measurable.
