Nearly one million patient-safety incidents occurred among Medicare patients between 2006 and 2008, costing U.S. hospitals $8.9 billion.
The seventh annual study of patient safety by HealthGrades, an independent healthcare ratings organization, found that one in 10 Medicare patients – 99,180 individuals – who experienced a patient-safety incident died as a result.
The number of patient safety issues across the three years was virtually unchanged since the 2009 report.
"HealthGrades Patient Safety in American Hospitals" evaluated 39.5 million hospitalization records from nearly 5,000 non-federal hospitals using indicators developed by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The study tracks trends in a range of patient safety incidents and identifies those hospitals that are in the top 5 percent in the nation.
Patients at those hospitals experienced 43 percent fewer patient safety incidents, on average, compared to poorly performing hospitals. The study authors claim that if all hospitals performed at this level, 218,572 patient safety incidents and 22,590 deaths could potentially have been avoided, saving $2 billion from 2006 through 2008.
"This annual study serves the twin goals of documenting the state of patient safety for hospitals to benchmark against and providing individuals with objective information with which to evaluate local hospitals," said Rick May, MD, a vice president at HealthGrades and co-author of the study. "It is disheartening, however, to see that the numbers have not changed since last year's study and, in fact, certain patient safety incidents, such as post-operative sepsis, are on the rise."
May noted that patient safety events are common at U.S. hospitals. Between 2006 and 2008 there were 958,202 total patient safety events among Medicare beneficiaries, representing 2.29 percent of the 39.5 million Medicare admissions.
Six patient safety indicators showed improvement while eight indicators worsened in 2008 compared to 2006. Some of the most common and most serious indicators worsened, accounting for 78.94 percent of the total patient safety incidents studied.
The patient safety incidents with the highest incidence rates are (along with the event rates per 1,000) failure to rescue (92.71), decubitus ulcer (36.05), post-operative respiratory failure (17.52) and post-operative sepsis (16.53).