Attacking Medical Errors in Dermatology

Even dedicated, patient-focused dermatologists with many years of long and arduous training will make mistakes. A 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on Quality of Health Care in America highlighted the morbidity and mortality that are directly related to medical errors in the hospital setting, which led to an upswing of public and professional interest in this issue. A concerted effort to reduce medical errors in hospitals is now beginning to spill over into outpatient settings, including dermatology offices. Although dermatologists and other visual specialties appear to make fewer medical errors, it appears that errors occur in the treatment of approximately 5% of our dermatology patients, while errors occur in as many as 10% to 20% of patient encounters in other specialties. One report reviewing adverse events in hospitalized Medicare patients determined that 44% were preventable. It is time for each of us to devote ourselves to reasonable efforts to minimize preventable medical errors.