Lucian Leape on patient safety in U.S. hospitals. Interview by Peter I Buerhaus.
OBJECTIVE
To describe and discuss the status of patient safety in U.S. hospitals.


METHODS
Personal interview. This report is part of a series of discussions with a leading expert on patient safety.


CONCLUSIONS
Some improvements have been made in the past 10 years. But changes have not been adequate. Continuing barriers include the punitive environment in hospitals, physicians' denial of the scope of the problem, lack of national leadership, and lack of systems thinking.
Leape
Lucian
L
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, Nashville, TN 37240, USA. Peter.Buerhaus@Vanderbilt.edu
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D015984:Causality; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006739:Hospital Administration / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D020380:Needs Assessment; D015279:Organizational Culture; D017751:Safety Management / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States