institutional document
To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health
Institute of Medicine. To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System. Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 1999. https://doi.org/10.17226/9728.
Why this matters here
The Institute of Medicine’s To Err Is Human (1999) framed medical error as a systems problem, estimating large harm from preventable mistakes and urging safety cultures that surface error rather than hide it. How Serious Systems Learn cites that stance against “failure is not an option” illusions: high-reliability practice treats uncertainty disclosure as a safety function, not a status threat. The report established systems-oriented patient safety; the book asks how institutions stay error-aware without pretending perfection.
