ABSTRACT
Human error in medicine is not fraud, waste, and abuse in the delivery of medical care. Human error in medicine indeed is a frontier for change. The cost of preventable human error in medicine is a substantial contributor to the crippling cost of medical care in the United States. There are additional costs that add to the cost of human error in medicine, the ephemeral human costs of pain and suffering. This rudimentary agenda presents several interrelated approaches to reducing preventable error in the assortment of medical settings and providers that have come to be known in the United States as the medical care system. The contribution of the systems approach to the analysis of human error in medicine is that error is considered the consequence of systemic, interrelated factors impacting the individual. Pending the implementation of no-fault compensation plans, which is discussed under the long-term agenda, several short-term efforts can begin to address the problem.
