{
  "id": "RL32092",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL32092",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 316870,
      "date": "2006-07-14",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T18:56:34.383029",
      "title": "Medical Malpractice: The Role of Patient Safety Initiatives",
      "summary": "Medical malpractice and malpractice insurance continue to be issues of great concern to\nphysicians,\nconsumers, legislators, and others. Most of the discussion about rising malpractice insurance\npremiums has centered on limiting the damage awards in malpractice suits, though some attention\nalso has been given to insurance reforms. A third, related area that has received less consideration\nin malpractice discussions is patient safety. Patient safety refers to the panoply of rules, practices,\nand systems related to the prevention of medical injury. Intrinsic to patient safety efforts are\nstrategies to prevent medical errors.\n While patient safety and medical errors have generated a great deal of discussion in legislatures\nin the past several years, such discussion typically has taken place separately from the debates\nconcerning malpractice. For example,  S. 544 , the Patient Safety and Quality\nImprovement Act of 2005, encouraged the voluntary reporting and analysis of medical error data. \nS.  544 became  P.L. 109-41  on July 29, 2005. However, medical liability issues are\naddressed in other legislation -- specifically,  H.R. 5 / S. 354 , the Help\nEfficient, Accessible, Low-Cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2005,  S. 22 , the\nMedical Care Access Protection Act of 2006, and  S. 23 , the Healthy Mothers and\nHealthy Babies Access to Care Act.\n The separation of patient safety concerns from medical malpractice issues has not always been\nthe case. Several states have passed legislation that included provisions that addressed both\nmalpractice and patient safety issues. Research studies have explored the links between the two\nissues, and a few bills introduced during the 109th Congress, such as  S. 1337  and\n S. 1784 , address those links. Therefore, it is appropriate and timely to reconsider these\nissues collectively, and revisit the role patient safety initiatives could play in the prevention of both\nmedical errors and medical malpractice.\n Strategies to enhance patient safety differ according to the specific provider type targeted. For\ninstance, physician education includes providing clinical guidelines about appropriate treatments for\nspecific medical conditions, while hospital education involves performance feedback from an\nexternal organization. At the same time, general approaches may apply to both physicians and\nhospitals. For example, medical error reporting is a key component for patient safety enhancement,\nregardless of the provider focus.\n The impact of patient safety initiatives on the quality of care provided continues to be an open\nquestion. Individual initiatives have resulted in promising outcomes, but the overall impact of these\nefforts has been mixed. To some degree, this is the case because implementation has not been as\npervasive as initial intentions suggested, and also because not enough research has been done to\nidentify, enumerate, and assess patient safety efforts.\n This report will be updated periodically.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "encoding": "utf-8",
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL32092",
          "sha1": "2e5f7c3510bea91bcdba26b63376ca734f1dc1f1",
          "filename": "files/20060714_RL32092_2e5f7c3510bea91bcdba26b63376ca734f1dc1f1.html",
          "images": null
        },
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "encoding": null,
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RL32092",
          "sha1": "aff4cf1ad42695ee4c1cabecd066f8a83851e98b",
          "filename": "files/20060714_RL32092_aff4cf1ad42695ee4c1cabecd066f8a83851e98b.pdf",
          "images": null
        }
      ],
      "topics": []
    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc807260/",
      "id": "RL32092_2006Feb23",
      "date": "2006-02-23",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "Medical Malpractice: The Role of Patient Safety Initiatives",
      "summary": null,
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "filename": "files/20060223_RL32092_ebe452f0f50c0fc2364dc30da74de5a69657bceb.pdf"
        },
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "filename": "files/20060223_RL32092_ebe452f0f50c0fc2364dc30da74de5a69657bceb.html"
        }
      ],
      "topics": []
    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc820566/",
      "id": "RL32092_2005Jan24",
      "date": "2005-01-24",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "Medical Malpractice: The Role of Patient Safety Initiatives",
      "summary": null,
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "filename": "files/20050124_RL32092_fd94681fc73b14ee1e79506b1169b940984ad5b2.pdf"
        },
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "filename": "files/20050124_RL32092_fd94681fc73b14ee1e79506b1169b940984ad5b2.html"
        }
      ],
      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Health Policy"
  ]
}