Public medical error reporting will save lives

Thanks to the Patient Safety Act and the leadership of Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) Commissioner Heather Howard, it looks like the state is taking giant steps toward improved health care quality and transparency in New Jersey hospitals.

Case in point the third annual Patient Safety Report, released by the DHSS. Though the report found that 72 people died from preventable medical errors in New Jersey last year, 30 more than in 2006, American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) believes this is not the result of worsening care or careless treatment by our state's hospitals.

Rather, AARP believes the increase is a result of better reporting, which for health care consumers is a good thing. More reporting means more focus on fixing problem processes that result in dangerous medical mistakes.

Of course, the system is not perfect. Five hospitals reported zero errors, a number that is suspect to even the most naive New Jersey resident.

AARP calls upon the DHSS to release the names of these non-reporting hospitals so that New Jerseyans can find out if these hospitals are truly perfect or are flouting the law and hiding serious medical mistakes from the public.

AARP advocates for better and most importantly, public reporting of preventable medical errors that will force hospitals to report their medical error numbers accurately and improve the quality of care in their hospitals.

Quite simply, public reporting will save lives.
Marilyn Askin
Chief Legislative Advocate
AARP New Jersey
Princeton