Top Medical Leaders Gather to Grade Progress on Improving Patient Safety

How much progress has the U.S. health system made on improving patient safety and reducing medical mistakes since the Institute of Medicine issued its landmark report "To Err is Human"? Are hospital patients safer today than in 1999, when IOM reported that as many as 98,000 deaths per year resulted from medical errors? What state and federal policies have been instituted to foster patient safety? What are some best practices and tools that are effectively reducing medical errors? Renowned medical leaders and legal scholars will answer these questions and grade how well the United States is doing on protecting patient safety at a forum commemorating the five-year anniversary of the "To Err is Human" report. The Commonwealth Fund Quality Improvement Colloquium will feature perspectives of some of the top experts on patient safety and quality including: Robert Wachter, MD; Lucian Leape, MD; David Brailer, MD; Dennis O'Leary, MD; Harvey Fineberg, MD; Jonathan Perlin, MD; and David Blumenthal, MD. An agenda listing all the speakers and sessions is attached. When:
Thursday, November 4, 2004
8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Where:
National Academy of Sciences Building
Lecture Room
2101 Constitution Ave, NW [Foggy Bottom Metro – Blue & Orange Line] Media interested in attending the forum, please contact Emily Fishkin at 301/652-1558 or e-mail her at [email protected] to reserve a space.