A 1999 Institute of Medicine report, To Err Is Human: Building A Safer Health System, estimated that between 44,000 and 98,000 die each year in this country from preventable medical errors in hospitals. Although other studies have estimated fewer preventable deaths, the issues of safety and quality in medical care have been a major focus in recent years. About a third of the public (34%) in 2004 and about a third of physicians (35%) in 2002 said that they had been personally involved in a situation where a preventable medical error was made in their own medical care or the care of a family member. The surveys defined medical errors as mistakes that are made when people are ill and receive medical care that results in serious harm, such as death, disability, or additional or prolonged treatment. Some errors are preventable, while others may not be. Nearly a quarter of the public (21%) in 2004 and one-fifth of physicians (18%) in 2002 said that the medical error they experienced resulted in serious health consequences, including loss of time from important life activities such as work or school (16% public/12% physicians), severe pain (16%/11%), temporary disability (12%/8%), long-term disability (11%/6%), and death (8%/7%). In addition, almost a third (29%) of physicians said in 2002 that the past year in their role as a physician, they had seen a medical error that resulted in serious harm to a patient.

Source: 2004 public data from Kaiser Family Foundation/Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality/Harvard School of Public Health, National Survey on Consumers’ Experiences with Patient Safety and Quality Information, November 2004, Chart 16 and Chart 17 (conducted July 7-September 5, 2004) at http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/7209.cfm. 2002 physician data from Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health, Medical Errors: Practicing Physician and Public Views, December 2002, Chartpack, Charts 1-3, at http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/20021211a-index.cfm.