Republicans are well known for pounding the tort deform drum as an easy fix for everything from bringing down the deficit, to reigning in medical malpractice insurance rates and reducing so-called defensive medicine. Although supporters can offer no empirical evidence to support any of these contentions, they seem to subscribe to the notion that if you say it enough it must be true.
But one republican seems to be on to something that looks decidedly different in its focus on medical errors. Rep. Renee Ellmers (R.-N.C.) recently penned a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelious on the issue. Her idea is to incorporate a thorough study of medical errors in the push toward use of electronic medical records. Ellers, who chairs the Healthcare subcommittee of the House Small Business Committee, references reported failures of health information technology systems in tracking errors, be they human or technological. The goal is to further develop and refine these technology systems so all errors are better assessed and prevented in the future if possible.
That seems like a good idea.
