Estimating Hospital Deaths Due to Medical Errors
JAMAPublished 25 July 2001
Rodney A. Hayward, Timothy P. Hofer
Citations574
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score5.35
SNIP10.71
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TL;DR
The reliability of reviewer ratings of medical error and the implications of a death described as "preventable by better care" in terms of the probability of immediate and short-term survival if care had been optimal are examined.
Abstract
Medical errors are a major concern regardless of patients' life expectancies, but our study suggests that previous interpretations of medical error statistics are probably misleading. Our data place the estimates of preventable deaths in context, pointing out the limitations of this means of identifying medical errors and assessing their potential implications for patient outcomes.
Keywords
Health Professions
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