Profession
Campaign targeting patients aims to cut surgical errors
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Nov. 20, 2006
If a new campaign encouraging patients to take a more proactive role in preventing surgical errors hits the mark, surgeons should expect an increase in safety questions from their patients. Through the project, the National Partnership for Women & Families and AARP will distribute tip sheets to patients that contain questions to ask before surgery.
The questions will help patients ensure that doctors are "implementing known measures that will decrease adverse events that are preventable and no longer acceptable," Thomas Russell, MD, executive director of the American College of Surgeons, said in a statement.
The campaign is part of the Surgical Care Improvement Project. The project is a national quality partnership of more than three dozen groups, including the AMA, committed to reducing postoperative complications.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2006/11/20/prbf1120.htm.