On Hospital Mistakes, Disclosure Is Best

March 8, 2010

The General Assembly erred in 2004 when it tampered with a law designed to make public such hospital mistakes as inadvertent cuts during surgery or serious falls. The legislature can undo its error this session by repealing the confidentiality provision that now keeps most such mistakes secret. Patients have a right to know about hospital mistakes and what steps hospitals are taking to reduce medical errors.

Connecticut ordered hospitals to report adverse events in 2002, but hospitals balked after the reports were made public. Two years later, lawmakers — reacting to hospitals' concerns — passed a provision narrowing the list of events that must be reported and allowing reports to be kept secret until they are investigated.

But about three out of four reported events — some of which have injured or killed patients — are never investigated, keeping them out of public view.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal's office has drafted legislation to repeal the confidentiality provision. All reported adverse events would be disclosed, not just those that are investigated. The state health department would be required to identify the hospital where the event occurred and summarize the hospital's corrective action plan.

Hospital officials contend that more events will be reported if confidentiality is provided, and that without it, personnel will be reluctant to comply with the law. Rigorous auditing by the health department and stiff penalties for violating reporting requirements should ensure compliance.

But hospitals ought not to resist. Voluntary compliance and diligent attention to trying to reduce medical errors will work in hospitals' favor.