Disclosing data about medical errors would help doctors, patients

A consensus is growing in the medical community for treating medical errors more like a disease: Diagnose the problems and treat them.

It’s a significant issue.

The latest study, by Johns Hopkins Medicine, ranked medical errors as the No. 3 U.S. cause of death. It estimated that medical mistakes contribute to the deaths of about 251,000 Americans each year, behind heart disease and cancer.

Dr. Ann Polich, vice president of quality and performance improvement for Methodist Health Systems, was among the local medical leaders cited in this Omaha World-Herald editorial.