The Indiana State Board of Health on Wednesday adopted a rule that will require hospitals to disclose medical errors to the public, the Indianapolis Star reports. The rule will require hospitals to report on 27 medical mistakes, including surgery on the wrong body part and deaths from contaminated medications. Hospitals and surgery centers in the state will be required to report errors within 15 days of confirming they were at fault and up to six months after an error took place. The first medical error report is expected to be released to the public in February. Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) on Jan. 1 ordered Indiana hospitals to report medical errors, but fewer than an estimated 100 errors have been reported, according to Terry Whitson, an assistant commissioner at the Indiana State Department of Health. Experts say a provision of the rule that prohibits error reports from being used in patient lawsuits will facilitate compliance from hospitals. Minnesota was the first state to enact such a law in 2004, and several other states are expected adopt similar rules, the Star reports (Hupp, Indianapolis Star, 9/21).

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