Reports and Surveys

The Institute of Medicine estimates that between 44,000 and 98,000 lives are lost annually as a result of preventable medical errors. This Issue Brief examines the response to the medical errors crisis across the health care delivery system, as well as how grantmakers working at the national, state, and local levels can contribute to advancing quality through reductions in medical errors and improvements in patient safety.

This Issue Brief, based on an October 2000 Issue Dialogue, explores issues at the intersection of environment and health. It begins with a discussion of the increase in antibiotic resistance, likely factors that have contributed to this increase, and action by the public sector to limit this phenomenon. The report also provides an introduction to systemic contaminants, illustrating both their complexities and intervention strategies through case studies of well-known contaminants. Current grantmaker activities to address these issues are presented, as well as opportunities for future activities that cut across both of these broad issues.

For all the sophistication of our health care system, the United States does not have a highly developed and supportive long-term care network that takes good care of its elderly. This Issue Brief offers an overview of the primary factors influencing the quality of long-term care services – including demographics, service providers, financing, and policy and regulation – and profiles innovative grantmaker programs.