Letter: Hospitals only interested in covering errors

Friday, April 26, 2002 | 4:23 a.m.

Assemblywoman Ellen Koivisto is reportedly upset with Assemblyman John Yacenda about his subcommittee's recommendations concerning the reporting of medical errors in the state of Nevada. She thinks that reporting of errors should be done by hospitals, using a standard form, rather than by health care professionals or health care users. As a registered nurse with over 20 years of experience, I can say that dependence on hospital administrators for such reports is an invitation to whitewash. The hospitals will do everything they can to cover up any errors that might influence their corporate profits.

Koivisto also wants to prevent patients or potential patients from being informed of hospital error rates, especially the right to be informed at the time of admission to a hospital on how that hospital compares to others in the community on medical error rates. She obviously thinks that the protection of corporate profits is more important than the informed consumer.

There must be an open and confidential error reporting system for medical errors and full public disclosure of the data. That is the only way that corporate bean-counters will be forced to take action to reduce medical errors.

WALLACE HENKELMAN