Going to a hospital is getting safer: The chances that U.S. patients would pick up infections, get the wrong drug or dose, or be hurt in other ways, ranging from falls to bed sores, fell 17% between 2010 and 2013, government health officials report today.
The progress report from the Department of Health and Human Services shows such mistakes happened 121 times for every 1,000 people discharged from a hospital in 2013, down from 145 per 1,000 in 2010.
The reasons for the changes are not fully understood, but they occurred at a time of “concerted attention by hospitals throughout the country,” the report says. Those efforts were spurred in part by safety initiatives and payment incentives called for in the Affordable Care Act, officials say.
“Today’s results are welcome news for patients and their families,” HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell said in a statement. “These data represent significant progress in improving the quality of care that patients receive while spending our health care dollars more wisely.”
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The progress made since 2010 has prevented 50,000 deaths and saved $12 billion, the report says.
Still, the report found hospitals harmed patients 3.9 million times in 2013 and that nearly 10% of patients were hurt in some way. “That rate is still too high,” the report says.
Date: December 2, 2014