Medical Malpractice
Study: Billions Being Spent on Medical Errors
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April 9th, 2008
"Preventable Hospital Errors Taking Their Toll"
Medical errors at hospitals are costing the U.S. billions—$8.8 billion between 2004 and 2006 to be exact, a new study released Tuesday shows.
“While many U.S. hospitals have taken extensive action to prevent medical errors, the prevalence of likely preventable patient safety incidents is taking a costly toll on our health care systems – in both lives and dollars,” said Dr. Samantha Collier, lead author of the study.
Study Findings
According to the Patient Safety in American Hospitals Study, medical errors resulted in 238,337 potentially preventable deaths over the three-year study period. Failure to rescue, bedsores, and post-operative respiratory failure were the most common errors reported.
Victims of medical errors had a 20 percent likelihood of dying as a result, the study found. And patients at top-performing hospitals were significantly less likely—an average of 43 percent—to suffer a medical error.
Later this year, the government will no longer reimburse hospitals for a number of different types of medical errors in an effort to prevent their occurrence.
(Source: Washington Post)
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