Medical Errors in Iowa: Prevalence and Patients' Perspectives

OBJECTIVES: The following primary objectives of this study were to: (1) establish baselines of prevalence and causes of medical errors experienced by Iowans in medical settings, (2) determine whether Iowa patients were informed of the errors by the responsible healthcare providers, (3) understand reasons why Iowans who experienced medical errors did or did not report the errors, and (4) discover how Iowans view mandatory reporting of medical errors. METHODS: A total of 1010 Iowa adults took part in a telephone survey in summer 2017. Interviews were completed via random landlines and random digit dialing of cell phone numbers. RESULTS: Nearly one fifth of surveyed Iowa adults (18.8%) reported being involved in a medical error in their own care or in the care of someone close to them, and yet only four in 10 (39.1%) were notified of the error by the responsible provider. Most Iowans strongly agree that Iowa hospitals (79.5%), physicians (74.1%), and nursing homes (82.2%) should be required to report all medical errors to the patient and to a state agency. CONCLUSIONS: A significant proportion of Iowans will experience a medical error. They also desire full transparency from healthcare providers with respect to medical errors, including notifying the patient when an error occurs and mandating that providers report errors to a state-based agency. Iowa regulators should carefully assess and initiate stringent regulatory guidelines for mandatory reporting of medical errors.