Medical errors and unexpected side effects occur relatively often in the hospital setting, where in 1999, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reported that medical errors resulted in roughly 98,000 deaths per year, becoming the eighth leading cause of death for patients (Phillips-Bute, 2012). While this number is very alarming, the amount of public concern toward medical errors are nearly nonexistent, resulting in patients having little understanding of their rights when their health is negatively impacted due to a medical error.
A medical error exists when there is an action or decision (or lack of) that is deemed as wrong from fellow peers who are qualified in their respective fields, regardless of whether it resulted in negative consequences for …show more content…
The pro-mandatory argument states that patients should have access to all outcomes of their health, even when they include errors. It is also argued that through the collaboration of various health organizations nationwide, patient safety can be improved upon as a collection of information can be built upon and the errors studied on so that they are not repeated (Hanlon et al., 2015). On the other hand, those against mandatory reporting argue that there is a reluctance to share information due to a possible breach in the patient’s confidentiality and may lead to malpractice lawsuits due to incompetence. There is also the fear of the healthcare organization losing credibility among the community, ruining the reputation of the facility as well as the employees (Phillips-Bute, 2012). When considering both positions, there is clearly a gap between the expectations of the patient and the health care organizations so that the patient’s needs are not being addressed and the health system is in fear of being threatened by the legal