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Letters |18 March 2003

The Wrong Patient

Robert M. Wachter, MD; Kaveh G. Shojania, MD; Sanjay Saint, MD, MPH; Amy J. Markowitz, JD; Mark Smith, MD, MBA

Article, Author, and Disclosure Information
Author, Article, and Disclosure Information
  • University of California, San Francisco; San Francisco, CA 94143 (Wachter, Shojania)
    Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Medical Center University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (Saint)
    San Francisco, CA 94131 (Markowitz)
    California HealthCare Foundation; Oakland, CA 94607 (Smith)
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IN RESPONSE:
We appreciate each of the correspondents' kind words about the Quality Grand Rounds series and agree that forthright discussions of medical errors are needed in order for individual physicians, and the systems we work in, to learn from our collective mistakes.
Dr. Sandroni laments present-day nursing systems, which frequently dispense with the traditional head nurse role. The absence of this point-of-service management presence, he argues, may create a communication or advocacy gap that contributes to errors. Dr. Sandroni's suggestion that patients enter the hospital accompanied by an advocate is indeed a rueful indictment of the status quo. Not all patients can or will have such an advocate. They should also be asking hospitals what systems for patient protection are in place to make such steps less necessary.
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Wachter RM, Shojania KG, Saint S, Markowitz AJ, Smith M. The Wrong Patient. Ann Intern Med. 2003;138:518–519. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-138-6-200303180-00025

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Published: Ann Intern Med. 2003;138(6):518-519.

DOI: 10.7326/0003-4819-138-6-200303180-00025

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2003 American College of Physicians
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Print ISSN: 0003-4819 | Online ISSN: 1539-3704

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