Ever since 2000, when the Institute of Medicine released a landmark report that revealed many thousands of Americans die each year due to medical mistakes, significant improvements have been made in some hospitals.
Though, apparently not enough, for as many as 98,000 Americans still die each year because of medical errors, despite what some claim to be an unprecedented focus on patient safety. So where should the finger of blame be pointed? According to researchers:
Dire Need for a Change
According to the report, the Institute of Medicine urged key health care organizations to focus on patient safety. Reductions have allegedly been made in certain kinds of error-related illnesses and deaths -- as much as 93 percent.
But the heat still needs to be turned up on the hospitals ...
And the improvements of the magnitude envisioned by the institute require a national commitment to strict, ambitious, quantitative and well-tracked national goals. The only question left: Can hospitals take on the challenge?
Journal of the American Medical Association May 18, 2005, Vol. 293, No. 19: 2384-2390
USA Today May 18, 2005
One of the more popular articles on my site has been the multi-part article Modern Health Care System is the Leading Cause of Death, sequel to the landmark Institute of Medicine report published by JAMA in 2000.
With conventional medicine's errors continuing to occur, can we really say the system is improving?
Considering that another recent study found prescription-related deaths to spike by 25 percent due to errors made by overworked pharmacies during the first few days of each month, I would have to say there is strong evidence to suggest that it hasn't.
As long as you continue to take "Band-Aid" drugs and rely on surgeries as the primary solutions to address what ails you, instead of focusing on the cause, this unfortunate trend will continue.
You can play a role in helping to change health care in this country by not only educating yourself about health and adopting a healthy lifestyle, but by encouraging others to do the same.
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