From WebMD: Patient Safety System Becomes Law.

President Bush signed into law Friday a bill creating the country’s first national system for reporting and tracking medical errors.



The law creates a federally run national database used to collect and study information on medical mistakes and “near misses” that harm patients in doctors offices, hospitals, pharmacies, and other health care settings.

The reporting will be voluntary and anonymous, and won’t be used against anyone in institution-grading or lawsuits. I would think that this aggregate information could be a useful tool for CME providers as part of their overall needs assessment process, but it won’t eliminate the need for specific needs assessment research for individual activities.

Thanks to Debra for the tip!