Hospital association changes position on reporting medical errors

The Washington State Hospital Association has reversed its position on the reporting of hospital mistakes after a public uproar over its efforts to keep such details from being released by the state.

The association's efforts to prevent disclosure were detailed in a front-page story Tuesday in The Seattle Times.

Cassie Sauer, spokeswoman for the association, said the group now favors the disclosure of errors, which include operating on the wrong body part and other dangerous incidents, as long as the reports also include context — such as how many patients, and what types of patients, each hospital serves, what the hospital has done about the mistakes, and how it plans to prevent future problems.

"We had a lot of discussion about your (The Seattle Times') article, and a lot of calls," Sauer said today. "There's been a lot of reaction to this, more than we expected. ... Your article made us realize that people really do want the information."

Really? It's that surprising how the public has reacted? Come on. The Association is only changing its position based on the strong backlash by the public, not because it has re-thought its position.

Medical errors are often kept secret and hidden from the public. In most medical malpractice cases involving medical or hospital errors, a routine condition of settlement is that the case be kept confidential and secret. The public usually never knows what goes on at many of our hospitals and clinics. If errors were required to be published or made known to patients, then patients could do alot to protect themselves or at least choose a provider that has a reputation for safety.