Hosta

Fatal Care: Survive in the U.S. Health System is a book about preventable medical errors written by Sanjaya Kumar, president and chief medical officer of Quantros, Milpitas, California. Fatal Care was published in April 2008 by IGI Publishing, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Fatal Care: Survive in the U.S. Health System describes the impact of preventable medical errors on thirteen families. Topics covered include: heparin overdose, misdiagnosis, hospital-acquired infection, patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pump, medically induced trauma, inadequate emergency department care, and wrong site surgery. Fatal Care identifies gaps in the health care system based on documented factual information and analysis for health care consumers and professionals^{[citation needed]}

According to Institute of Medicine (IOM) and Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), as many as 98,000 patient deaths occur each year in U.S. healthcare facilities as a result of preventable medical errors. Also, IOM and IHI report preventable medical errors impact at least five million Americans annually, costing more than $17–21 billion.^[1]

Well-publicized preventable medical error cases involve celebrities Dennis Quaid, Terry Francona and Charlie Weis.

See also

• Diagnosis
• Medical ethics
• The Deadly Dinner Party
• How Doctors Think
• To Err is Human

References

• "Dennis Quaid files suit over drug mishap" Ornstein, Charles., Los Angeles Times, 5 December 2007
• "Pembroke story featured in book on medical errors" Patriot Ledger, 15 April 2008, Schwartz, Sidney
• "Quantros to Sponsor MITSS HOPE Award", Tobin, Winifred N. MITSS (Medically Induced Trauma Support Services), Press Room
• "Star QB testifies in Weis case" Abraham, Yvonne, Boston.com, 17, February 2007
• "Strike Out Infection" Francona, Terry.
• Milch CE, Salem DN, Pauker SG, Lundquist TG, Kumar S, Chen J (February 2006). "Voluntary electronic reporting of medical errors and adverse events. An analysis of 92,547 reports from 26 acute care hospitals". J Gen Intern Med. 21 (2): 165–70. doi:10.1111/j.1525-1497.2006.00322.x. PMC 1484668. PMID 16390502.
• PBS's Nightly Business Report Transcript, 4 April 2007
• The Quality Colloquium, Harvard University, August 2007
• "Pay-for-Performance: A Guide for Hospital Trustees" for American Hospital Association, Center For Healthcare Governance, Kumar, Sanjaya