Regulation of Health Policy: Patient Safety and the States
Abstract
In its 1999 report on patient safety, the Institute of Medicine recommended a nationwide mandatory reporting system to collect standardized information about adverse events. Efforts at instituting a national system have stalled, and both State legislatures and private or quasi-regulatory organizations have highlighted systemic breakdowns as being chiefly responsible for the "safety" problem, and have recommended eliminating the traditional clinical boundaries that discourage adverse event reporting, replacing them with a "safety culture". This research examines the role of State legislatures in regulating patient safety. The authors suggest that State patient safety regulation illustrates ongoing tensions in U.S. health policy, and conclude that State legislation serves an important function as an intermediate step to bring the patient's perspective to the table.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA434036
Entities
People
- Joanna Weinberg
- Lee H. Hilborne
- Quang-tuyen Nguyen
Organizations
- United States Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality