FIRST, DO NO HARM:

Hospitals cut errors and save 120,000 patients (MIKE STOBBE, 6/15/06, The Associated Press)

Hospitals have reduced lethal mistakes and breakdowns in care to prevent the unnecessary deaths of more than 120,000 patients in the past 18 months, said leaders of an unprecedented national campaign.

"I think this campaign signals no less than a new standard of health care in America," said Dr. Donald Berwick, a Harvard professor who organized the campaign.

About 3,100 hospitals took part in the project, sharing mortality data and carrying out study-tested procedures that prevent infections and mistakes.

"We in health care have never seen or experienced anything like this," said Dr. Dennis O'Leary, who heads the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.