Letter: Hospital safety report is lacking
For the sixth time, both John T. Mather Memorial Hospital in Port Jefferson, above, in 2013, and Roslyn's St. Francis Hospital, which is part of Catholic Health Services, scored A's in patient safety in a ranking by a national medical quality group.
Preventable medical errors are the third-leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer ["Patient safety graded," News, Nov. 7]. The cost of injuries and death caused by negligent medical errors exceeds $50 billion each year.
While the Leapfrog Hospital Survey, performed by a nonprofit group to improve health care quality, is a step in the right direction to better patient safety, it relies on incomplete sources of information: voluntary hospital surveys, Centers for Disease Control numbers, and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service statistics.
These sources list general conditions and outcomes, but that doesn't adequately report all recognized preventable errors. Many hospitals fail to report errors such as surgery on the wrong body part, foreign objects left in patients, injuries to vital organs, blood clots, infections from urinary catheters, falls that cause fractures, and hospital-acquired infections.
State and federal governments should mandate hospital disclosure of all types of medical errors. Only then can consumers be assured of making informed choices of the safest and best hospitals and doctors.
Alan W. Clark, Levittown
Editor's note: The writer is a medical malpractice lawyer.
