Abramson, Brown & Dugan Attorneys

A new report published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association has found that almost as many medical errors occur in physicians' office as in hospitals.  The researchers found that the errors in medical offices were not trivial.  70% of such errors involved death, a permanent injury, or a major injury. 

in gathering data for the study, researchers analyzed information National Practitioner Data Bank and compared cases occuring in hospital settings with those in ambulatory care facilities or doctors' offices.  The researchers were able to conclude that the leading source of medical errors in non-hospital settings concerned diagnostic errors.  According to Medscape, "They note the conditions in physician offices that invite diagnostic errors: A patient's signs and symptoms "may be subtle or not adequately noted" by physicians seeing a constant stream of patients, and follow-up is harder than in the hospital.

"Communication and coordination of care are problems," Dr. Bishop told Medscape Medical News. "A doctor who orders a test or refers to a specialist won't be 100% sure that they happen until he gets back a report."

While it is more difficult to monitor patient safety data and quality outcomes in a non-hospital setting such as a phsycians' office, this new study reveals the importance and urgency of doing so.