According to an intriguing report by Newsweek, many hospitals are responding to the challenge of improving patient safety in innovative ways. These new innovative methods include digitizing medical records and updating nursing practices. These changes are in response to statistics that indicate far too many patients die because of medical mistakes. A 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine indicated that nearly 100,000 Americans die every year as a result of medical errors. Since 1999 it appears that mistakes are now more common, as this year it is reported that at least 1.5 million people annually are victims of medical errors.