Boston hospital aims to eliminate mistakes

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston has launched a quality-improvement effort aimed at eliminating within four years all harm to patients that it considers preventable. The hospital has already begun measuring ways in which they endanger patients and plan to publish the results quarterly. Currently, nationwide surveys show Beth Israel Deaconess ranks in the top 12 percent for patient satisfaction, and the goal is to reach the top 2 percent.