Promoting Patient Safety: An Ethical Basis for Policy Deliberation

Hastings InvestigatorsNancy Berlinger and Mary Ann Baily

Funder: Donaghue Foundation

This project explored the ethical basis of patient safety reform proposals and aimed to promote ethically informed policy discussions at the federal, state, and institutional levels. The project team included individuals who became advocates for patient safety following the deaths of family members, as well as scholars, clinicians, and health care administrators. Project meetings addressed the economics of patient safety and sociology of medical error; disclosure, accountability, and responses to medical mistakes; and tensions between a model of individual responsibility and a systems approach, among other topics. The project produced a special report of the Hastings Center Report: Virginia A. Sharpe, Promoting Patient Safety: An Ethical Basis for Policy Deliberation.