While the healthcare industry is uncertain about how it should handle medication errors, the public is clear on what it favors - mandatory reporting with limited or no immunity
for those committing the errors, according to a survey by TNS Intersearch, an international survey firm in New York. This issue took center stage earlier this year when the
Institute of Medicine published a report that found that up to 100,000 deaths per year are due to medication errors.
What consumers are unsure about is whether hospitals and physicians should be given immunity for reporting medical errors. The survey found that 71% of those surveyed support
some form of mandatory reporting with varying levels of immunity offered for those committing the errors. For instance:
- only 30% support mandatory reporting with no immunity for the doctors or hospitals involved;
- 27% say immunity should be offered only to those doctors and hospitals that followed medical error practice guidelines;
- 14% support mandatory reporting with blanket immunity; and
- 14% support voluntary reporting in which information reported be made available to Congress and supervisory agencies but not the general public.
The survey is based on interviews with 1,010 adults.
(TNS Intersearch, Justine Carroll, 212/896-1227)