BackgroundIt is shocking to know that each year 98,000 patients die due to preventable medical errors (Kohn, LT, Corrigan, JM, & Donaldson, MS (eds.), 2000 ). Medical errors are not a new problem in our healthcare system; these have been around for a long time. Over the past three decades, hospitals have sought to improve the quality of care and patient safety by implementing various strategies to prevent and reduce medical errors. Medical errors are the third leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer in America (Allen, 2013). Additionally, medical errors cost our healthcare system between $735 and $980 billion (Andel, Davidow, Hollander, & Moreno, 2012). Medical errors can occur in healthcare systems such as hospitals, doctor's offices, operating rooms, doctor's offices, pharmacies, patients' homes, and anywhere in the healthcare system where patients are treated. These errors consist of diagnostic, therapeutic, medical, surgical, equipment calibration, and laboratory reporting errors. Furthermore, communication problems between doctors and patients, communication errors between healthcare personnel and complex healthcare systems play an important role in medical errors. We must seek a solution that initiates change from doctors, nurses, pharmacists, patients, hospitals and government agencies. In this article I will discuss how the problem of medical errors affects our healthcare delivery system? Furthermore, how can these medical errors be prevented and reduced? Defining the Problem Most medical errors result from human error. Before defining medical error, we should have a good understanding of human error. As humans in our daily lives we are prone to making mistakes like using ointment...... middle of paper ......d8c29788%40sessionmgr111&hid=107&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPXVybCxjb29raWUsaXAsdWlkJnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#db=bth&AN=8044436 :// www .iom.edu/reports/2006/preventing-medication-errors-quality-chasm-series.aspxhttp://www.iom.edu/~/media/Files/Report%20Files/2006/Preventing-Medication-Errors- Quality -Chasm-Series/medicationerrorsnew.pdfhttp://www.ihi.org/education/ihiopenschool/resources/Pages/AudioandVideo/PerspectivesTheMistakePart2.aspxhttp://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/20tips.htmhttp://www. ahrq.gov/patients-consumers/care-planning/errors/20tips/http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/patientsafety.htmlhttp://medicaleconomics.modernmedicine.com/medical-economics/news/using- ehrs-bring-innovation-rural-practice?page=0,1http://patientsafetyed.duhs.duke.edu/module_e/swiss_cheese.htmlhttp://www.wmich.edu/wmu/news/2005/06/021. htmlhttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6237364/