Representatives Rush Holt (D-NJ) and Lois Capps (D-CA) have introduced H.R. 5742, a bill to research the use of medical checklists. A medical checklist is a well-defined set of steps that should be completed during a designated medical clinical encounter or medical procedure, to help improve patient safety. The bill is the latest in governmental efforts to control and prevent hospital-acquired conditions, a rising concern of late.

The Medical Checklist Act of 2010 would initiate extensive research into the efficacy of medical checklists, including testing of different models of checklists to measure the effect of formats, length, and design for different clinical tasks. This testing would include measurement of the effects of the use of medical checklists on patient safety and health outcomes.

In addition, the HIT Policy Committee in the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology would be required to develop policy recommendations regarding the extent to which the use of medical checklists should be incorporated into health information technology systems, as well as measures to determine the effectiveness of such use.

Another provision in the bill would have the Department of Health and Human Services working with the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Engineering of the National Academies to conduct a study reviewing available medical checklists and similar quality improvement techniques.

The bill has been referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Surgeon and author Dr. Atul Gawande detailed the value of checklists in medicine in a 2010 best-seller "The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right."

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