INDIANAPOLIS -- Modern medicine is complex, fast-paced and vulnerable to mistakes which kill between 7,000 to 10,000 patients each year.

The Institute of Medicine said doctors and nurses report making another 1.5 million drug errors each year that don't involve deaths, 6News' Stacia Matthews reported.

"The thing that we found most sobering was that if you're admitted to a hospital today, you can expect to experience a medication error every day that you're in the hospital," said James Conley, a national patient safety advocate.

Indianapolis hospitals are working together to make sure patients and their families are safe in their care, Matthews reported.

"We want zero errors, either near misses or sentinel events. We don't want any. We want our patients safe," said registered nurse Kathy Rapala, of the Indianapolis Patient Safety Coalition.

Hospitals told Matthews that they are being proactive and overhauling safety systems.

Chris Scott, a pharmacist with Wishard Health Services, is being honored as one of Indianapolis' best patient safety advocates. Scott makes rounds with doctors to ensure patients are prescribed the right drugs, receive appropriate doses and avoid allergic reactions. Scott said he appreciates that hospitals are required to report mistakes.

"We want to get that information so that we can address it. Each one of those reports is our ability to say, 'Look at the system. We can figure out what needs to be changed so this doesn't occur again,'" Scott said.

Experts agree that drug errors will never be completely prevented, but that hospitals must remain focused on avoiding harm.

Patients and their families have a role in their own protection. Patients should make sure they get all questions answered, be sure that the prescription directions are clear and tell a doctor everything they are taking, including supplements.