ABSTRACT
Health care in the United States is plagued by a bad record for safety and a medical malpractice crisis. It is the author’s belief that reforming the medical liability system and improving patient safety are two sides of the same coin. This chapter explores the prevalence and increased public awareness of medical error, patient safety, and other initiatives to promote disclosure of medical error and perceptions in the medical community that discourage reporting of medical error. The chapter will also discuss the interface between the existing medical liability system and medical error, the medical malpractice crisis, and limited effect of first generation medical malpractice reforms. In particular, the chapter will focus on the current challenge of structuring a new accountability system that will link patient safety to risk management toward the goal of preventing patient injury in the first instance and improving the manner in which injury caused by medical error is fairly compensated and addressed.
