AAMC Supports Medical Errors
Reporting Legislation
June 7, 2002- AAMC-supported legislation (S. 2590)
introduced June 5 would encourage the reporting, analysis,
and prevention of medical errors by establishing legal protections
for providers. Sponsored by Senators Jim Jeffords (I-Vt.),
Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), John Breaux (D-La.), and Judd Gregg
(R-N.H.), the "Patient Safety and Quality Improvement
Act" responds to the 1999 Institute of Medicine report,
To Err is Human, which called upon Congress to "provide
legal protections with respect to information reported for
the purposes of quality improvement and patient safety."
The legislation establishes a framework for the voluntary
reporting of medical errors to so-called "patient safety
organizations" (PSOs). PSOs will have the option of voluntarily
sharing their data with a national patient safety database,
which will be linked to the Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality (AHRQ).
To encourage the reported of medical errors, the bill protects
the submitted data from being subject to subpoena, disclosed
via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), admitted as evidence
in a civil/criminal/dministrative proceeding, or used to carry
out an adverse personnel action (e.g., deny credentialing).
The bill will not prevent disclosure of information existing
separate from the patient safety organization/data collection
process or data that is material to a criminal/administrative
proceeding, within the public interest, and not available
from other sources. The Jeffords/Frist/Breaux/Gregg legislation
will not affect regulations established under the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
During a related press conference, Senators Frist and Breaux
advised that once legal protections were in place, Congress
would expect the healthcare industry to "rise to the
challenge" and contribute to medical errors reporting
and patient safety research.
In addition to the AAMC, the "Patient Safety and Quality
Improvement Act," is supported by the American Hospital
Association, American Medical Association, and several other
hospital and physician organizations. A similar House bill
(H.R. 4889) sponsored by Ways and Means Health Subcommittee
Chair Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.) was introduced on June 6.
Information:
Christiane Mitchell, Senior Legislative Affairs Manager
AAMC Government Relations
cmitchell@aamc.org
(202) 828-0526
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