Hospitals May Not be Reporting Errors as Required by Law

A new report released by the Department of Health and Human Services inspector general shows that some hospitals are ignoring state reporting regulations, which makes it difficult for health care professionals to pinpoint and fix preventable medical errors.

The report said that 44 percent of the cases tracked by inspectors involved preventable healthcare errors, according to USA Today. The research also points out that ignorance about state regulations by health care staff is the main reason why problems go unreported.

A possible solution to the issue may lie in the 2010 federal health care law which requires the hospitals to introduce electronic records for all their patients. Electronic records can be helpful to monitor and identify patient problems as they crop up.

Lee Adler, the report’s lead physician researcher and a senior advisor for Adventist Health, says that hope for the future lies in electronic health records because, “we may be able to prevent events, we may be able to ameliorate events, and (electronic records) may become your surveillance system,” according to USA Today.

If you or a loved one has been injured by medical malpractice, contact Sokolove Law for a free legal consultation and to find out if a medical malpractice lawyer may be able to help you. For legal help, call (800) 581-6358.

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