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Patient safety is a relatively recent initiative in healthcare, emphasizing the reporting, analysis and prevention of Medical Error and Adverse Healthcare Events . The frequency and magnitude of avoidable adverse events was not well known until the 1990s, when reports in several countries revealed a staggering number of patient injuries and deaths each year. Patient safety initiatives include application of lessons learned from business and industry, advancing technologies, education of providers and the public, and economic incentives. A large number of organizations internationally promote patient safety issues. PREVALENCE OF ADVERSE EVENTS Unforeseen bad outcomes of medical treatment cause harm to patients; Greek healers knew this in the 4th Century B.C., when the Hippocratic Oath pledged to "prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone."National Institute of Health, History of Medicine: Greek Medicine However, despite an increasing emphasis on the Scientific Basis Of Medical Practice in Europe and the United States in the late 19th Century, data on adverse outcomes were hard to come by and the various studies commissioned collected mostly anecdotal events.The Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation, A Brief History In the United States, the public and the medical specialty of Anesthesia were shocked in April 1982 by the ABC television program 20/20 entitled ''The Deep Sleep''. Presenting accounts of anesthetic accidents, the producers stated that, every year, 6,000 Americans die or suffer brain damage related to these mishaps.Janice Tomlin (producer): ''The Deep Sleep: 6,000 will die or suffer brain damage'', WLS-TV Chicago, 20/20. April 22, 1982 In 1983, the British Royal Society Of Medicine and the Harvard Medical School jointly sponsored a symposium on anesthesia deaths and injuries, resulting in an agreement to share statistics and to conduct studies.Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation: The establishment of the APSF by Ellison C. Pierce, Jr., M.D. By 1984 the American Society of Anesthesiologists had established the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation. The APSF marked the first use of the term "patient safety" in the name of professional reviewing organization.Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation: Comments From the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation Although anesthesiologists comprise only about 5% of physicians in the United States, anesthesiology became the leading medical specialty addressing issues of patient safety.1 Likewise in Australia, the Australian Patient Safety Foundation was founded in 1989 for anesthesia error monitoring. Both organizations were soon expanded as the magnitude of the medical error crisis became known. ''To Err is Human'' |
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