HealthGrades Study Shows Patient Safety Incidents Not Slowing, Cost $9 Billion
March 31, 2010
In 2006-2008, there were nearly 1 million patient safety events among Medicare patients, costing $8.9 billion, according to a new study by healthcare ratings organization HealthGrades. The number of incidents was virtually the same as reported in last year's study.
The study showed there are large gaps between care provided at the best performing hospitals and the worst performing, with patients treated at top-performing hospitals having a 43-percent lower chance of experiencing a medical error than those treated at the worst performers.
According to the study, some of the most common and serious safety incidents worsened, including decubitus ulcer, iatrogenic pneumothorax, post-operative hip fracture and deep vein thrombosis, among others.
Read the HealthGrades news release on patient safety incidents (pdf).
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