Hospitals ignoring requirements to report errors, HHS says

Hospitals are ignoring state regulations that require them to report cases in which medical care harmed a patient, making it almost impossible for healthcare providers to identify and fix preventable problems, a report released last week by the Department of Health and Human Services inspector general shows. Forty-four percent of the cases tracked by inspectors involved preventable healthcare problems, the report said. Researchers say the hospitals' failure to report problems isn't a sign of a coverup but rather the staffs' ignorance of the regulations and what they need to report.