Family physicians' solutions to common medical errors

In two U.S. studies about medical errors in 2000 and 2001, family physicians offered their ideas on how to prevent, avoid, or remedy the five most often reported medical errors. Almost all reports (94 percent) included at least one idea on how to overcome the reported error. These ideas ranged from "do not make errors" (34 percent of all solutions offered to these five error types) to more thoughtfully proposed solutions relating to improved communication mechanisms (30 percent) and ways to provide care differently (26 percent). More education (7 percent) and more resources such as time (2 percent) were other prevention ideas.