House Chair Urges Immediate Passage of Patient Safety Legislation

At a June 9th hearing on patient safety, the Chair of the House Energy and
Commerce Subcommittee on Health, Representative Nathan Deal (R-GA), declared
that it was time for Congress to take action and pass a bipartisan patient
safety bill by August. Such legislation could “reduce the number of deaths
caused by medical errors in half over the next five years,” he asserted.
Others including House Energy and Commerce Chair, Representative Joe Barton
(R-TX), and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Director, Carolyn
Clancy, MD, echoed Rep. Deal’s position.

In her remarks, Dr. Clancy stated that a culture of safety must be created
so health care professionals can feel safe to honestly acknowledge errors or
near misses. Also, health care institutions must understand that, at least
initially, the number of reported errors wills likely rise as previously
hidden errors are disclosed. The President of the Joint Commission on
Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), Dennis O’Leary, MD,
supported Dr. Clancy’s assessment, adding that the “name, blame and shame
approach to safety” must end and that a new risk-based approach is needed to
prevent human errors.

One mechanism JCAHO uses to improve patient care, according to Dr. O’Leary,
is its National Patient Safety Goals program which identifies potential
areas of error and recommends methods of eliminating them. In its
just-released 2006 recommendations to laboratories, the accrediting body is
requiring that they:

-Eliminate abbreviations, acronyms and symbols that may be a source of
confusion within the institution;
-Use at least two patient identifiers when collecting laboratory specimens
or administering medications;
-Conduct a verification process before performing any invasive procedure;
-Provide critical values to specified health care providers; and
-Require providers read-back a test order or result that is given verbally
over the phone.

There have been numerous hearings held, and bills introduced, on patient
safety over the past five years. Last year, both the House and Senate passed
patient safety legislation, albeit different versions which resulted in no
legislation. However, this year, it’s likely the two Chambers will reach an
agreement because of the bipartisan nature of the issue and the interest of
the various health chairs. If you would like a copy of the testimony from
the June 9th hearing, please visit the subcommittee Web site at
http://energycommerce.house.gov/108/Hearings/06092005hearing1543/hearing.htm
.