Control and Prevention of Medical Malpractice — Keynote Speech in the Seminar on Patient Safety —

There have been a number of medical cases of malpractice at the Musashino Red Cross Hospital. In 1995, we established a “Medical Practice Evaluation Committee” consisting of 11 doctors to review incident reports submitted by doctors describing their mistakes to resolve their own problems with reference to risk management systems in the field of aviation. I discuss the challenges faced by the Musashino Red Cross Hospital in preventing medical malpractice by referring to the principle that improvement of the institutional operating system should be based on the principle that even a minor incident can become a lesson to be shared by the whole hospital. Also, I address the establishment of risk management system in a hospital and what the medical field can learn from the risk management system in the field of aviation.