Question

Share your thoughts on why To Err is Human report spurred an interest in quality management in the health care industry and what the IOM recommended to address these problems and how this impacts quality and what impact it has had or has it in your opinion and also whether still relevant in your opinion?

Answer 1

Quality management seeks to improve effectiveness of treatments and increase patient satisfaction with the services.

The “To Err is Human” report published by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 1999 called for a national effort to make health care safer.This IOM report received tremendous attention from both the public and the healthcare industry. There was extensive media coverage that was closely followed by the American public.The healthcare industry responded almost immediately with a wide range of patient safety efforts.The federal government appropriated $50 million annually for patient safety research.Non‐governmental organizations issued briefs indicating that patient safety was now a priority. Healthcare purchasers encouraged hospitals to adopt safer practices.

To Err is Human report spurred an interest in quality management in the health care industry because it was associated with an increased number of patient safety publications and research awards. The report appears to have stimulated research and discussion about patient safety issues.And also Health care appeared to be far behind other high risk industries in ensuring basic safety. The IOM report called for a 50% reduction in medical errors over 5 years. Its goal was to break the cycle of inaction regarding medical errors by advocating a comprehensive approach to improving patient safety.

The recommendations and address to the above problems by IOM are as follow,

• Safe: Avoiding harm to patients from the care that is intended to help them.
• Effective: Providing services based on scientific knowledge to all who could benefit and refraining from providing services to those not likely to benefit (avoiding under use and misuse, respectively).
• Patient-centered: Providing care that is respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values and ensuring that patient values guide all clinical decisions.
• Timely: Reducing waits and sometimes harmful delays for both those who receive and those who give care.
• Efficient: Avoiding waste, including waste of equipment, supplies, ideas, and energy.
• Equitable: Providing care that does not vary in quality because of personal characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, geographic location, and socioeconomic status.

IOM debate regarding impact on patient safety and quality of health care. Critics of the report have suggested that, although safety is a vital component of healthcare quality, the report may have done more harm than good. They contend that, by focusing undue attention on accidental deaths which are difficult to study and prevent, limited resources are being drawn away from other important quality improvement initiatives.Conversely, patient safety advocates argue that the IOM report has galvanized the public and the healthcare industry into making necessary changes and we are beginning to see the first signs of progress. However, objective assessment of the impact of the IOM report has been difficult as no comprehensive nationwide monitoring system exists for patient safety.

Well,one objective and readily available measure relating to patient safety is the health sciences literature. Although research and academic publications will by themselves not improve patient safety, they are a means of knowledge development and transfer and will be an integral component of any efforts to improve patient safety. The health sciences literature and its funding also provide a gauge of the relative importance and cultural attitudes towards healthcare issues.So in my opinion,more investigation is required to this report ,to know how much it is relevant.