Patient Safety Begins at Diagnosis | Official web site of the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration

Patient Safety Begins at Diagnosis | Official web site of the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration

Patient Safety Begins at Diagnosis

HRSA Bureau of Primary Health Care Associate Administrator Jim Macrae spoke at HRSA's 7th annual Patient Safety Week observance, saying "we take (this) very seriously." HRSA supports 1,400 health centers serving over 27 million patients – including quality assurance measures, technical assistance, trend-spotting and malpractice indemnity.  One in twenty primary care patients have a health problem misdiagnosed every year – and 41 percent say in surveys that their clinicians have gotten it wrong at least once – Harvard University expert Dr. Gordon Schiff reported last week in an address during Patient Safety Awareness Week. This, said Dr. Schiff, "means to me from a safety point of view … there's preventable things happening (that) are harder and harder to defend." Learn more about patient safety.