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Health Care

Patient Safety

Exploring Quality of Care in the U.S.

More than 1 million patients suffer harm each year while being treated in the U.S. health care system. Even more receive substandard care or costly overtreatment. Our ongoing investigation of patient safety features in-depth reporting, discussion and tools for patients.

Doctor Confesses: I Lied to Protect Colleague in Malpractice Suit

New Report: Problem Care Harms Almost One-Third of Rehab Hospital Patients

Study Urges CDC to Revise Count of Deaths from Medical Error

Watch Live: ProPublica Forum on Nation’s Broken Patient Safety System

When a Brain Surgeon Becomes a Malpractice Lawyer

How Denmark Dumped Medical Malpractice and Improved Patient Safety

A Trail of Medical Errors Ends in Grief, But No Answers

Orthopedic Board Hasn’t Adopted Surgeon Scorecard After All

Orthopedic Board Will Use Surgeon Scorecard to Help Re-certify Docs

Our Rebuttal to RAND’s Critique of Surgeon Scorecard

Editor’s Note: ‘Dr. Abscess’ and Why Surgeon Scorecard Matters

For a Surgeon With a History of Complications, a Felony Past

Surgeon Scorecard and Cancer Centers

Surgeon Scorecard

How We Measured Surgical Complications

Why We Are Publishing Surgeons’ Complication Rates

What Experts Are Saying About Surgeon Scorecard

Key Questions We Considered in Creating Surgeon Scorecard

Alleged Patient Safety Kickbacks Lead To $1 Million Settlement

Unapproved, but Used in Surgery

Patient Safety Journal Adjusts After an Eye-Opening Scandal

Q&A: What Can U.S. Health Care Learn from the Ebola Outbreak?

We’re Still Not Tracking Patient Harm

Beyond Ratings: More Tools Coming to Pick Your Doctor

Rocky Mountain High or Reefer Madness? Legal Pot in Colorado Comes with Risks

So You’ve Become a Patient Safety Statistic – Now What?

Ad Endorsing da Vinci Robot Violated U of Illinois Policies, Review Finds

One Third of Skilled Nursing Patients Harmed in Treatment

Health Quality Group Rethinks Drug Endorsement

Citing ‘Distraction,’ Quality Forum CEO Resigns Board Seats

When a University Hospital Backs a Surgical Robot, Controversy Ensues

Payments to CEO Raise New Conflicts at Top Health Quality Group

Senator Cites ‘Serious Concerns,’ Demands National Quality Forum Records

Hidden Financial Ties Rattle Top Health Quality Group

Ten Patient Stories: When Attorneys Refused My Medical Malpractice Case

Patient Harm: When An Attorney Won’t Take Your Case

Five Takeaways: Why Doctors Stay Mum About Mistakes Their Colleagues Make

Why Doctors Stay Mum About Mistakes Their Colleagues Make

How Many Die From Medical Mistakes in U.S. Hospitals?

One Step Closer To Getting Her Husband’s Heart Back

Prescriber Checkup Q&A

MuckReads Podcast: The Good Nurse

The Story Behind Our Hospital Interactive

Your Hospital May Be Hazardous To Your Health

When Harm in the Hospital Follows You Home

Podcast: ProPublica Explores Patient Safety

A Patient’s Guide: How To Stay Safe In a Hospital

What a New Doctor Learned About Medical Mistakes From Her Mom’s Death

How You Can Help ProPublica Cover Patient Safety

How We Used Facebook to Power Our Investigation Into Patient Harm

Snooping On the X-ray Tech: A Patient’s Dilemma

Dead On the Operating Table: A Q&A with journalist Mina Kimes

Resource: Three Ways To Tell Your Patient Harm Story

New York’s Ongoing Blackout: Hospitals in Lower Manhattan

NYU Hospital’s Backup System Undone by Key Part in Flooded Basement

In Hurricane’s Wake, Decisions Not to Evacuate Hospitals Raise Questions

Why Do Hospital Generators Keep Failing?

Resource: Five Safe Surgery Tips for Patients

What a Failed Vegas Sex Pill and The Meningitis Outbreak Have In Common

Are High-Volume Dental Chains Exploiting Kids on Medicaid?

Why Patients Don’t Report Medical Errors

Discover The Quality of Nursing Homes Near You

How You Can Help ProPublica Investigate Health Care Quality

Resource: Dealing With The Media

A Costly Equation: Medical Dollars Wasted Are Greater Than the U.S. Defense Budget

Author: Health Care Reform Is No Solution to Patient Harm

Why Patient Harm Is One of the Leading Causes of Death in America

Resource: Finding Unexpected Allies

To Stent Or Not To Stent, That Is In Question

Why Can't Medicine Seem to Fix Simple Mistakes?

Cardiac Arrest: Hospital Refuses to Give Widow her Husband's Heart

Could The Supreme Court’s Health Care Ruling Kill Patient Safety Reforms?