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AHRQ Study Finds Surgical Errors Cost Almost $1.5 Billion Each Year
Posted on Oct 01, 2008
A recent study conducted by the Department of Health & Human Services’ (HHS) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reveals that preventable medical errors that occur during or after surgery may cost employers almost $1.5 billion annually.
The study was published in an issue of the journal Health Services Research and showed that insurers paid an additional $28,218 (52 percent) and an additional $19,480 (48 percent) for surgery patients who experienced acute respiratory failure or post-surgery infections in comparison with patients who did not experience either medical error. The authors of the study, AHRQ’s William E. Encinosa, Ph.D. and Fred J. Hellinger, Ph.D., also found the following increase in costs for surgery patients that were a result of medical errors:
• Medical errors related to nursing care cost an additional $12,196 (33 percent)
• Metabolic problems resulting from medical errors cost an additional $11,797 (32 percent)
• Pulmonary or vascular problems and blood clots accounted for an additional $7,838 (25 percent)
• Medical errors that contributed to the opening of a wound cost $1,426 (6 percent)
One of the most frightening findings of the study had to do with patient deaths. According to the study, 1 out of every 10 patients who died within 90 days after surgery did so because of a preventable error and one-third of those deaths occurred after the initial hospital discharge.
Researchers studied a sample of more than 161,000 patients ages 18 to 64 in employer-based health plans who had surgery between 2001 and 2002. AHRQ Patient Safety Indicators were used to identify the medical errors. Encinosa and Hellinger believe that studies that only focus on medical errors that occurred during the initial hospital stay may underestimate the financial impact of patient safety events by 30 percent.
According to AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D. “Eliminating medical errors and their after affects must continue to be our top priority.”
Read More About AHRQ Study Finds Surgical Errors Cost Almost $1.5 Billion Each Year...
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