Here are 16 statistics on the state of U.S. healthcare quality, as reported in the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's 2011 National Healthcare Quality Report.
Mortality
• Number of Americans who die each year from medical errors in 2000 — 44,000-98,000
• Rate change of deaths following complications of care from 2004 to 2008 —138 per 1,000 admissions to 122 per 1,000 admissions (adults ages 18-89)
• Rate change of deaths following inpatient pneumonia from 2004 to 2008 — 54 per 1,000 admissions to 36 per 1,000 admissions
Prevalence
• Annual rate of adverse events for hospitalized patients in 2000 — 2.9-3.7 percent
• Annual rate of adverse drug events among Medicare beneficiaries in ambulatory settings in 2003 — 50 per 1,000 person-years
• Annual number of adverse drug reactions during hospital admissions in 2000 — 1.9 million
• Annual number of healthcare-associated infections in 2007 — 1.7 million
• Average rate of postoperative sepsis infections in 2008 — 15 per 1,000 hospital discharges
• Average rate of central line-associated bloodstream infections in 2009 — 2 per 1,000 central-line days for medical-surgical ICUs to almost 3 per 1,000 central-line days for medical ICUs
Adherence to Surgical Care Improvement Project standards of care
• Proportion of surgery patients who received appropriate care across eight SCIP process of care measures in 2009 — 86 percent
• Proportion of surgery patients who had appropriate hair removal in 2009 — 99 percent
• Proportion of surgery patients who received recommended antibiotics in 2009 — 98 percent
• Proportion of surgery patients who received antibiotics 1 hour prior to surgery in 2009 — 96 percent
Costs
• Cost attributable to medical errors in 2008 — $19.5 billion
• Total cost per error in 2008 — $13,000
• Annual cost attributable to surgical errors in 2008 — $1.5 billion
Mortality
• Number of Americans who die each year from medical errors in 2000 — 44,000-98,000
• Rate change of deaths following complications of care from 2004 to 2008 —138 per 1,000 admissions to 122 per 1,000 admissions (adults ages 18-89)
• Rate change of deaths following inpatient pneumonia from 2004 to 2008 — 54 per 1,000 admissions to 36 per 1,000 admissions
Prevalence
• Annual rate of adverse events for hospitalized patients in 2000 — 2.9-3.7 percent
• Annual rate of adverse drug events among Medicare beneficiaries in ambulatory settings in 2003 — 50 per 1,000 person-years
• Annual number of adverse drug reactions during hospital admissions in 2000 — 1.9 million
• Annual number of healthcare-associated infections in 2007 — 1.7 million
• Average rate of postoperative sepsis infections in 2008 — 15 per 1,000 hospital discharges
• Average rate of central line-associated bloodstream infections in 2009 — 2 per 1,000 central-line days for medical-surgical ICUs to almost 3 per 1,000 central-line days for medical ICUs
Adherence to Surgical Care Improvement Project standards of care
• Proportion of surgery patients who received appropriate care across eight SCIP process of care measures in 2009 — 86 percent
• Proportion of surgery patients who had appropriate hair removal in 2009 — 99 percent
• Proportion of surgery patients who received recommended antibiotics in 2009 — 98 percent
• Proportion of surgery patients who received antibiotics 1 hour prior to surgery in 2009 — 96 percent
Costs
• Cost attributable to medical errors in 2008 — $19.5 billion
• Total cost per error in 2008 — $13,000
• Annual cost attributable to surgical errors in 2008 — $1.5 billion
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