The goal of the QuIC is to ensure that all Federal agencies involved in purchasing, providing, studying, or regulating health care services are working in a coordinated way toward the common goal of improving quality of care. A new center for patient safety. A requirement that each of the over 6,000 hospitals participating in Medicare have error reduction programs in place. New actions to improve the safety of medications, blood products, and medical devices. A mandatory reporting system in the 500 military hospitals and clinics which serve over 8 million patients.
Medical errors are common and costly.
One study of over 30,000 patients indicated that nearly 60 percent of patients suffering adverse events in a hospital stay were subjected to a preventable medical error. The report is also available online on the QUIC Web site .