USA. Injuries in hospitals pose a significant threat to patients and a substantial increase in health-care charges

Citation

(2004), "USA. Injuries in hospitals pose a significant threat to patients and a substantial increase in health-care charges", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 17 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2004.06217aab.011

USA. Injuries in hospitals pose a significant threat to patients and a substantial increase in health-care charges

USA

Injuries in hospitals pose a significant threat to patients and a substantial increase in health-care chargesKeywords Medical injuries, Mortality, Excess length of stay, Increased charges

A study from the Agency for Health-care Research and Quality, "Excess length of stay, charges, and mortality attributable to medical injuries during hospitalization", published in the 8 October Journal of the American Medical Association says that injuries during hospitalization resulted in longer hospital stays, higher charges, and a higher number of deaths in 2000.

The study used AHRQ's "Patient safety indicators" and Health-care Cost and Utilization Project's "Nation-wide in-patient sample" data to identify medical injures in 7.45m hospital discharges from 994 acute care hospitals across 28 states in 2000. The study provides, for the first time, specific estimates for excess length of stay, charges, and the risk of death for each of 18 of the 20 AHRQ patient safety indicators.

It found that the impact of medical injuries varies substantially. Post-operative bloodstream infections had the most serious consequences, resulting in hospital stays of almost 11 days longer than normal, additional charges of $57,727, and an increased risk of death after surgery of 21.9 per cent. Based on these data, the researchers estimate that 3,000 Americans die each year from post-operative bloodstream infections. The next most serious event was post-operative re-opening of a surgical incision, with 9.4 excess days, $40,323 in additional charges, and a 9.6 per cent increase in the risk of death. This equates to an estimated 405 deaths from reopening of surgical incisions annually. Birth and obstetric trauma, in contrast, resulted in little or no excess length of stay, charges, or increase in the risk of death.

AHRQ director Carolyn M. Clancy, MD said: "This study gives us the first direct evidence that medical injuries pose a real threat to the American public and increase the costs of health care. The nation's hospitals can use this information to enhance the efforts they already are taking to reduce medical errors and improve patient safety".

Further information: "Injuries in hospitals pose a significant threat to patients and a substantial increase in health-care costs", press release, 7 October 2003. Agency for Health-care Research and Quality, Rockville, MD, available at: www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2003/injurypr.htm