The Nature of Adverse Events in Hospitalized Patients: Results of the Harvard Medical Practice Study II

IN recent years, concern about the increasing cost of malpractice-insurance premiums has led to numerous tort reforms. At the same time, and largely independently of tort reform, interest in initiatives affecting the quality of care has grown. Curiously, however, the problem of medical injury has received comparatively little attention from either perspective. But an important objective for those concerned with both medical malpractice and quality of care is the prevention of iatrogenic injury. A first step in prevention is to develop a better understanding of the types of such injuries and their causes. In our investigation of accidental injury in . . .