Final answer:
The current patient safety movement was launched by the 1999 IOM report 'To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System', which exposed the significant impact of medical errors on patient safety and catalyzed widespread efforts to improve healthcare practices and systems.
Step-by-step explanation:
The current patient safety movement is widely thought to have been launched with the publication of the 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) titled "To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System". This landmark report brought significant attention to the prevalence of medical errors and their impact on patient safety. It emphasized that errors are not due to individual negligence, but rather to systemic problems, including poor communication and inadequately designed systems.
The report highlighted staggering statistics about the incidence of medical errors and their consequences, suggesting that as many as 98,000 people may die each year in the United States as a result of medical errors. This eye-opening data spurred healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the public to focus more heavily on strategies to improve patient safety.
Following the release of this report, there was a surge in efforts and initiatives aimed at reducing medical errors, improving the safety of drugs and medical procedures, and enhancing overall patient care. This has included the development of checklists for surgery, protocols for preventing infections in intensive care units, and epidemiological studies linking tobacco use to ill health and early mortality, all of which aimed to reduce preventable harms and improve patient outcomes within the healthcare system.