New Jersey Senate votes that hospitals must display certain serious reportable events

The New Jersey Senate has approved unanimously 38-0 a bill that would require the health department to reveal which hospitals were responsible for committing any of a list of 14 “most egregious” mistakes.

The New Jersey Star-Ledger reports reports that among the 14 medical errors are surgery on the wrong body part, items left behind after surgery, or blood infections following surgery.

New Jersey already has on the books the Patient Safety Act requiring hospitals to report errors to the Department of Health and Senior Services. The existing act, however, promises confidentiality for facilities reporting these errors.

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(Sources: HCPro Accreditation Connection, http://hcpro.com, March 23, 2009)