Health-Care Industry Riddled With Mistakes, Survey Shows

More new research seems to confirm what disgruntled consumers have long suspected: Going to the doctor can be hazardous to your health.

Ninety-five percent of physicians have witnessed a serious medical mistake, and 61% of health-care professionals admit they accept medical errors as part of routine practice, according to a nationwide survey of 1,000 health-care professionals.

The survey was released last week by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a health-care philanthropy based in Princeton, N.J. The researchers defined medical errors as a failure to do a medical task the way it’s supposed to be done--such as dispensing the wrong drug or performing surgery incorrectly.

More than half of the survey participants--which included 600 physicians, 400 nurses and 200 senior-level hospital executives--said the health-care system isn’t very good. Nor do they believe Band-Aid solutions will provide a quick fix for what they view as fundamental flaws. Nearly three out of four of the respondents said sweeping changes were needed to root them out.

This unflinching assessment from professionals on the front lines supports the findings of two recent reports from the Institute of Medicine, which found that as many as 98,000 Americans die each year due to medical errors, and that the nation’s trillion-dollar health-care system is unable to provide consistent quality care.

But there was one bright spot: Nearly one-third of the survey’s respondents said they could be a leader in the drive to improve quality.

“There’s a serious quality gap, and we thought people would feel powerless,” says Michael Rothman, a senior program officer with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “Yet there’s a real optimism, and a sense of mission among providers, who seemed poised on the verge of really tackling these problems.”

To help improve health-care quality, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has earmarked $20.9 million to launch the Pursuing Perfection initiative. The program will fund hospitals’ and doctor groups’ efforts to upgrade their performance, which ultimately would serve as a model for the health-care system.

“Our goal is to challenge health-care organizations to build a better product,” Rothman says. “If they can show dramatically better results can be delivered, we think consumers won’t accept less ever again.”