"I appreciate President Clinton's willingness to join us in trying to reduce medical errors. I'll look at his proposal carefully, especially with regard to confidentiality concerns. It's critically important to weigh all of the many interests involved with reducing medical errors. Consumers want identifying information to consider when choosing a hospital. Hospital officials say too much identifying information will have a chilling effect on reporting. We have to strike a balance that works the best to keep patients safe and encourages reporting of errors.
"In addition to safety, reducing medical errors is a matter of accountability. The taxpayers pay billions of dollars into federal health care programs, including Medicare and Medicaid. These programs cover millions of people. When unacceptable numbers of medical mistakes occur under the federal watch, the taxpayers aren't getting what they paid for, and that's wrong."