Cover: Setting the Stage for the Second Decade of the Era of Patient Safety

Setting the Stage for the Second Decade of the Era of Patient Safety

Contributions By the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and Grantees

Published In: HSR: Health Services Research, v. 44, no. 2, pt. 2, Editorial, Apr. 2009, p. 623-627

Posted on RAND.org on April 01, 2009

by Lee H. Hilborne

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) To Err Is Human report that focused the health care community and the public on the inherent risks that patients face when they seek care. Importantly, the message made it clear that many adverse consequences were preventable if only we thoughtfully implemented systems that would prevent good people from making serious mistakes. To that end, the IOM challenged us to reduce the number of health care errors by 50 percent over 5 years.

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