Medical Errors Source of Additional Costs
Medical errors are significantly increasing the cost of medical expenses to employers according to a recent study performed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The study found that potentially preventable medical errors could attribute to nearly $1.5 billion dollars in unnecessary medical expenses each year.
According to an AHRQ press release:
In a study published in the July 28 issue of the journal Health Services Research, AHRQ’s William E. Encinosa, Ph.D., and Fred J. Hellinger, Ph.D., found that insurers paid an additional $28,218 (52 percent more) and an additional $19,480 (48 percent more) for surgery patients who experienced acute respiratory failure or post-operative infections, respectively, compared with patients who did not experience either error.
AHRQ stressed the importance of making the prevention of these mistakes a top concern in the healthcare system:
Like the physical and emotional harm caused by medical errors, the financial consequences don’t stop at the hospital door,” said AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D. “Eliminating medical errors and their after effects must continue to be top priority for our health care system.
The study also found a disturbingly high number of preventable deaths as a result of medical errors. According to the AHRQ press release:
The study also found that 1 of every 10 patients who died within 90 days of surgery did so because of a preventable error and that one-third of the deaths occurred after the initial hospital discharge. The study was based on a nationwide sample of more than 161,000 patients age 18 to 64 in employer-based health plans who underwent surgery between 2001 and 2002 The authors used AHRQ’s Patient Safety Indicators to identify medical errors.
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