The recently released Indiana Medical Errors Report provides good news for your hospitalized patients. Medical errors around the state decreased in 2011. A total number of 100 adverse events, down from 107 in 2010, were reported by 291 health care facilities.

Since 2007, hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, abortion clinics and birthing centers have been required to annually report errors. The 2011 report was based on the National Quality Forum’s (NQF) 28 serious Adverse Events.

The most reported events were:

• Stage 3 or 4 pressure ulcers
• Surgeries performed on the wrong body parts
• Foreign objects left in a patient after surgery
• Death or serious disability associated with a fall

While there were no medication errors resulting in death or serious disability in 2010, three were reported last year.

The requirement to report events identifies persistent problems, encourages increased awareness of patient safety issues and assists in the development of evidence-based initiatives to improve patient safety.

Medical errors generally are not the sole result of actions of individuals, but rather the failure of the systems and processes used in providing health care.

Find the complete report at the ISDH.