Remember the Surgeon Scorecard, that database on complication rates for more than 16,000 U.S. surgeons, compiled by ProPublica? That was just the tip of the iceberg in the realm of patient safety for the not-for-profit group of investigative journalists.
Friday, Washington-based ProPublica, in conjunction with The Daily Beast, published insights from its latest project in patient safety: a three-year effort to collect detailed stories from more than 1,000 people who suffered or watched a loved one suffer harm during medical care.
The results might be shocking to some, but unsurprising to those who understand that medical error has been called the third-leading cause of death in the U.S. (ProPublica cited that 2013 study, by a group called Patient Safety America.)
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Of the more than 1,000 people who reported harm, just one in five said that the healthcare provider or facility even disclosed the harm, and half of that small number of disclosures only happened because the victim or victim’s family applied pressure, according to ProPublica. Only one in eight who suffered an error or injury ever received an apology.
“Again and again, patients say they are ignored or dismissed by providers who seem more interested in avoiding legal liability than in acknowledging what went wrong,” ProPublica reported.
This is endemic of a larger issue, according to the story:
Dr. Eric Thomas, a patient-safety expert from the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, said ProPublica’s questionnaire reflects a troubling reality that helps perpetuate harm. It is “unacceptable that such a small percentage of people are being told” about errors, Thomas argued, but doubly so because every undisclosed error is a lost chance to improve care.
“Not only is it a matter of justice and professionalism,” he said, “but it is a matter of improving safety for future patients.”
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The lengthy article went on to chronicle one horror story, the troubling last 11 weeks of the life of Paula Schulte. Schulte was a Florida woman who died in 2012 after a series of medical errors that turned what should have been a short hospital stay to treat a series of seizures into a nightmare involving improper medications, post-surgical infections, delayed diagnoses, toxic IVs, inattention to the original neurological condition and lack of communication between clinicians who treated her.
State regulators declined to investigate the case, and the Joint Commission determined that the hospital’s response to a complaint by Schulte’s family was “adequate,” ProPublica said.
Note: Neil Versel participated in the ProPublica survey, reporting an episode of poor care during the last month of his father’s life.
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