- More people die
from medical errors each year than from motor vehicle accidents, breast
cancer, or AIDS (Institute of Medicine, 1999)
|
- Range anywhere
from 44,000 – 98,000 although it is argued that this figure is
grossly underestimated (Classen, 2000; Wu et al. 1991)
|
- Studies have
not addressed errors in the outpatient setting
|
- Large majority
of errors involve drug prescribing, surgery, diagnosis, equipment,
and interpretation of medical orders (AHRQ, 1999; IoM 1999)
|
