Although the number of adverse health events has been climbing in Minnesota since 2015, hospitals decreased medication errors by 44% in the last year, according to the state’s health department.
In 2024, Minnesota hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers reported 624 adverse health events — up from 610 in 2023. There were 316 reported events in 2015. Similar to figures in previous years, pressure injuries represented the largest number of events at 290.
Medication errors accounted for 14 of the 624 events reported in 2024, according to the health department. In 2023, hospitals and ASCs reported 25 medication errors, which was a decade-high record. The average is about 15 drug errors per year since 2015.
The prescribing stage saw 59% of medication errors, administering saw 35% and transcribing 6%. The most common errors were wrong drug (29%), wrong time (14%), wrong route (14%), wrong dose (7%) and omission (7%). Thirty-six percent of errors were categorized as “other.”
Read the report here.
