To Err Is Human

To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System (Free Executive Summary) http://www.nap.edu/catalog/9728.html

Free Executive Summary
To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System Linda T. Kohn, Janet M. Corrigan, and Molla S. Donaldson, Editors; Committee on Quality of Health Care in America, Institute of Medicine ISBN: 0-309-06837-1, 312 pages, 6 x 9, hardback (2000)

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As many as 98,000 people die each year from medical errors that occur in hospitals. That's more than die from motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer and AIDS--making medical errors the fifth leading cause of death in this country. The Institute of Medicine now spearheads an initiative to improve the quality of care in America by focusing on the facts and making wide-ranging recommendations. Central to the ideas proposed by the IOM is the notion that skilled and caring professionals can--and do--make mistakes because, after all, to err is human. This is why it is vital that we put this issue at the top of our national agenda and seek ways to reduce these errors through the design of a safer health system.

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