Retention of foreign object...

is one of 27 categories of medical errors that the Indiana Medical Error Reporting System utilizes. From the INDYSTAR.COM article:

State health officials said the error-reporting system is designed to give health-care providers useful information in understanding why errors occur and developing systems for preventing future errors. The officials also said they expect the number of reported errors to rise as hospitals become familiar with the program.

“Every health care provider takes adverse events seriously; even one adverse event is too many,” Kathy Rapala, interim director of the Indianapolis Coalition for Patient Safety, said in a statement. “The statewide report provides valuable information that we can use to guide our patient safety actions.”

Gov. Mitch Daniels ordered the Indiana Department of Health to begin collecting the information in 2005. But the preliminary report released today is the first comprehensive look at a full year.

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