A recent study from Johns Hopkins revealed medical errors kill more than 250,000 Americans each year. Medical mistakes are the third leading cause of death in the U.S., behind heart attacks and cancer.
The California Hospital Association wants to do something about that.
The association is teaming up with the Patient Safety Movement Foundation on an effort to reduce medical errors.
The focus of the initiative is to create a display that will feature five quality-of-care measures, including C-section rates and surgical site infections.
Each participating hospital will put the information on its website.
Dr. David Perrott, the Hospital Association’s chief medical officer, said the quality-of-care measures they have selected are just a starting point.
“We’ll continue to monitor these, and as better ways to measure things and new protocols are developed, we’ll include those and updating the dashboards that we’ve created as of today," he explained.
Perrott said when it comes to patient safety, California hospitals are doing pretty well.
“Our C-section rates have dropped in the state, our sepsis mortality rates are below national averages, and so there are a number of these things we’re doing well, and it’s a chance for them to come forward and bring it out,” he added.
The Patient Safety Movement Foundation has set a goal of zero preventable hospital deaths by 2020.
