A remarkable health care article appeared in Wednesday’s edition of The Spokesman-Review. A similar article was published in February. Yet, they didn’t merit large headlines or front-page display – and neither got that treatment. The information, while useful, was hardly astonishing.

So what’s the big deal? It’s that information on medical errors was published at all.

It wasn’t that long ago that the public was kept in the dark. In 1999, the Institutes of Medicine published a landmark report on medical errors that stunned the nation. Preventable mistakes were responsible for more deaths annually – approximately 98,000 – than auto accidents, breast cancer and AIDS. The report also showed a wide divergence between public perception of the safety of our health care system and reality.

And why not? Statistics on auto accident fatalities and breast cancer deaths are routinely reported by the media. Until very recently, this was not the case with medical errors. Though some in the health care community may not like it, the public has an interest in this information.

Wednesday’s article noted statistics reported by the state’s hospitals through June on the serious mistakes that occurred in the 27 required categories established by a new state law. Examples include 20 surgeries performed on wrong body parts, 31 instances of objects left behind after surgeries and 83 cases of life-threatening ulcers occurring while patients were in a hospital’s care.

Are those numbers significant? It’s too soon to tell because this is the first year they have been reported. But they do provide the numbers by which future reports can be compared.

Does reporting lead to increased safety? Not everyone in the health care field thinks so. Dr. Jeff Collins, the chief medical director at Sacred Heart Hospital, is skeptical. He notes in the article: “I don’t think it’s changed our procedures much at all, except for additional paperwork.”

The IOM sees three clear values in public reporting: “First, they provide the public with a minimum level of protection by assuring that the most serious errors are reported and investigated and appropriate follow-up action is taken. Second, they provide an incentive to health care organizations to improve patient safety in order to avoid the potential penalties and public exposure. Third, they require all health care organizations to make some level of investment in patient safety, thus creating a more level playing field.”

The news thus far on medical errors at Washington state hospitals is not alarming, and just the fact that we get the information adds a level of comfort.