November 2019 marked the 20th anniversary of “To Err is Human,” the National Academy of Medicine’s 1999 report that estimated as many as 98,000 people die a year in United States hospitals. That widely publicized report called for a national agenda to improve patient care processes to make it easier for honest providers to safely treat patients and harder for them to cause harm.
So where are we now? There’s been a lot of attention to the topic over the past two decades.
Mary Chris Jaklevic is a freelancer who has covered health care finance, clinical care and medical research for both expert and consumer audiences. Her interest in patient safety issues and the potential harms of medical interventions was honed by her experience as a contributor to HealthNewsReview.org, a project that aimed to improve health care journalism by critiquing the accuracy and balance of media messages about medical interventions.
She has contributed to various AHCJ endeavors including serving on the board from 2005 to 2009. She has a certificate in medical writing and editing from the University of Chicago Graham School and a master's in journalism from Columbia University.
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