Institute of Medicine Publications

To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System -- To Err is Human breaks the silence that has surrounded medical errors and their consequence -- but not by pointing fingers at caring health care professionals who make honest mistakes. After all, to err is human. Instead, this book sets forth a national agenda -- with state and local implications -- for reducing medical errors and improving patient safety through the design of a safer health system.

Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century -- This is the second in a series of publications from the Institute of Medicine's Quality of Health Care in America project. You can read the report for free on line or purchase a copy from the National Academies Press.

Performance Improvement: Accelerating Improvement -- Released in 2006, this report is a product of the Redesigning Health Insurance Performance Measures, Payment, and Performance Improvement Programs project established by the Institutes of Medicine in 2004.