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A new report released Friday by the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that more than 80 percent of hospital errors go unreported by hospital employees. The report, which looked at data from hospitalized Medicare patients, also found that most hospitals where errors were reported rarely changed their policies and practices to prevent repeat errors, saying the event did not reveal any "systemic quality problems."

With the beginning of August comes the planning for the new school year. And one of the most important details to be attended to by parents is the adequate protection of their child from communal diseases.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week has released a safety check list for medical facilities who are treating people on an outpatient basis. The safety checklist guidelines are aimed to reduce outpatient infections in response to findings that multiple facilities aren't adhering to standard infection prevention practices.

A new study by the American Medical Association suggests that outpatient clinics need to be scrutinized as closely as hospitals for the level of medical mistakes which are occurring. In recent years, the focus of patient safety efforts has been on hospitals rather than in outpatient settings such as doctors' offices and urgent care centers. Hospitals have come under scrutiny for medication errors, hospital-acquired infections and wrong-site surgeries. But the recent AMA study found that serious errors that result in malpractice awards also occur frequently in outpatient settings, suggesting that more attention needs to be paid to the care provided outside the hospital.

Seven years ago rules were adopted by the Joint Commission, the Chicago-based group that accredits the nation's hospitals, to prevent operations on the wrong patient or body part. These rules require preoperative verification of important details, marking of the surgical site and a timeout to confirm everything just before the procedure starts.