According to the Institute of Medicine, there are approximately 100,000 people per year killed in the Unites States because of medical errors. There are 100,000 families in despair because they have lost a loved one too soon. This also means that 100,000 medical professionals are losing sleep, worried about what they should have done differently, or whether they’ll be able to continue practicing medicine. Looking at this differently, the spending on homeland security, international affairs and defense since Sept. 11 has risen by some estimates as much as $100 billion per year—$33 million for every person killed that day. Although we can’t accurately estimate how many dollars are spent on health care quality, we know that the federal government is spending $100 million on health care information technology (IT) and at least that much on other quality initiatives. Even if we’re conservative in our estimate and figure that $1 billion is spent on health care quality, the per capita spending is only $10,000 per death. The 9/11 deaths were tragic and comparing terrorism to health care delivery may not be fair, but it’s valid if you’re one of the family members whose loved ones died because of a medical error.

 …