Imagine your mother goes into the hospital for a common procedure, but comes away with serious complications like pneumonia and a staph infection. Over the next few months your mother battles the illnesses but passes away. That is the story of one 51-year-old whose mother was admitted to a hospital for acute pancreatitis.

Unsatisfactorily, hospital staff members told the woman, "It just happens." The woman did not know what to ask about her mother's medical records and whether the documents showed information about a medical error and potential medical malpractice. According to a recent report conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as many as 80 percent of hospital errors go unreported by hospital staff. Had mistakes been made by the hospital staff who saw the woman's mother, the medical errors may not have been reported on the mother's medical records.

The report found that the majority of hospitals where errors were reported often failed to change practices and policies to prevent future errors because the hospitals believed the mistake did not represent any "systemic quality problems." The report looked at information from hospitalized Medicare patients because Medicare requires hospitals to track and analyze medical errors. Hospitals that do not track the care of Medicare patients do not get reimbursed by Medicare; however, the regulation of hospital tracking records is weak.

The report found that over 60 percent of the unreported medical errors were not perceived as errors by hospital staff. The report also found that serious errors like death and infections acquired under hospital care were just as likely to not be reported as less serious issues like allergic reactions to medications.

Family members can best help loved ones by becoming involved in treatment and by asking questions.

Source: ABC News, "Report: Hospital errors often unreported," Lara Salahi, Jan. 6, 2012