University to Use Internet to Trace Medical Errors
Posted on: Friday, 28 March 2003, 06:00 CST
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A new Internet-based system that will track medical errors at five campus medical centers belonging to the University of California will follow the lead of other major health care providers that have enacted similar measures.
The system will allow hospitals to monitor trends in medication errors such as administering the wrong drug or the wrong dosage. It was also establish a "harm score system" for evaluating each error and comparing it with others.
Various health care providers have used the systems to improve quality and efficiency. In February, Kaiser Permanente, the state's largest HMO, rolled out a $1.8 billion plan to give doctors and patients access to medical histories, test results, prescription information and other data, in part to reduce errors.
A report from the Institute of Medicine three years ago estimated that between 48,000 to 98,000 fatal medical errors occur every year in the nation's hospitals.
The University of California project is believed to be the first in the nation that links academic medical centers on a systemwide basis through the Internet.
The system will not be accessible to patients.
However, patients may make suggestions and notify medical authorities if they experience or witness medical error or "near misses," said Dr. Lee Hilborne, director of the UCLA Center for Patient Safety and Quality.
"What I'm really excited about is, hopefully, we're going to be seeing more reporting" of these mishaps, Hilborne said.
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