MEDICAL ERROR：WHAT DO WE KNOW? WHAT DO WE DO?

The information contained in Medical Error includes contributions from experts in the field who offer a comprehensive and constructive review of medical mishaps. The book provides a useful reference for students and practitioners who must examine and assess the critical area of patient safety. Throughout Medical Error the authors stress the critical need for accountability and transparency and address a number of compelling questions: Where are we mired in outdated approaches? Where have we misinterpreted data? Where are we getting new insights? Where do we dare to be innovative? This helpful resource will prove to be a valuable tool for health care professionals who strive to improve care for all their patients.

Marilynn M. Rosenthal is a professor and medical sociologist. She is director of the Program in Health Policy Studies at the University of Michigan in Dearborn and associate director of the University of Michigan medical school's Program in Society and Medicine, also coordinating the University of Michigan Health Policy Forum. She is the author of Dealing with Medical Malpractice, The Incompetent Doctor, and Medical Mishaps: Pieces of the Puzzle.

Kathleen M. Sutcliffe is associate professor of organizational behavior and human resource management at the University of Michigan Business School in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She is the coauthor with Karl E. Weick, of Managing the Unexpected (Jossey-Bass, 2001).

Foreword (Gilbert S. Omenn).

Preface (Marilynn M. Rosenthal and Kathleen M. Sutcliffe).

The Editors.

The Contributors.

Setting the Stage.

1. What Have We Learned Since the Harvard Medical Practice Study? (David M. Studdert, Troyen A. Brennan, and Eric J. Thomas).

Error from the Perspective of Providers and Patients.

2. How Stress and Burnout Produce Medical Mistakes (Darrell A. Campbell Jr. and Patricia L. Cornett).

3. Medical Error in Primary Care (Michael D. Fetters).

4. Nurses and the "Code of Silence" (Beverly Jones).

5. The Patient's View of Medical Errors (Michael L. Millenson).

Approaches to Managing Error.

6. Error Management and Patient Safety: A Managed Care Competency (Derek van Amerongen).

7. Risk Management and Medical Errors (Margaret Copp Dawson, Ann P. Munro, Kenneth J. Appleby, and Susan Anderson).

8. Can Evidence-Based Medicine and Outcomes Research Contribute to Error Reduction? (Susan D. Horn, Joanne V. Hickey, Theresa L. Carroll, and Anne-Claire I. France).

Systems Models for Reducing Error.

9. The Reduction of Medical Errors Through Mindful Interdependence (Karl E. Weick).

10. Medical Errors: How Reliable Is Reliability Theory? (Paul R. Schulman).

11. Will Airline Safety Models Work in Medicine? (Eric J. Thomas and Robert L. Helmreich).

Where Do We Go From Here?

12. Struggling to Understand, Struggling to Act (Marilynn M. Rosenthal and Kathleen M. Sutcliffe).

Appendix One: A Collection of Definitions.

Appendix Two: A Collection of Web Site Information.

Name Index.

Subject Index.