The same principle holds true for the health system. The AMA and the medical specialty societies have been pioneers in the effort to reduce health system errors. Based on our work, we agree with many of the President's proposals for steps the private sector and government can take to improve patient safety. We support the President's call for increased funds to research errors and disseminate the findings to improve health care. We also concur with the proposal to modify pharmaceutical packaging and marketing practices to reduce medication errors.
Prompt action is needed on many consensus areas for improving patient safety.
However, the AMA is opposed to the expansion of mandatory reporting of medical errors. There is no evidence to show that mandatory reporting improves patient safety. Before we expand data collection activities we need to analyze existing state systems to determine the most effective use of finite resources. The AMA appreciates President Clinton's statement of support for protecting the confidentiality of peer review activities. But we are concerned that the protections do not go far enough to promote the type of information sharing that would help create a culture of safety where all members of the health system can learn from and prevent errors.