Better Hospital Performance Could Have Saved 22,771
Medicare Patients in 2005-07: HealthGrades
Dangerous safety event struck a Medicare patient
every 1.7 minutes in U.S. hospitals
April 7, 2009 Tending to dangerous situations or
safety events has kept many hospitals busy, according to a new study
from HealthGrades, which finds that one such incident occurred for a
Medicare patient every 1.7 minutes between 2005 and 2007. HealthGrades
says 22,771 Medicare deaths could have been avoided if all hospitals
performed at the level of the 2009 Patient Safety Excellence Award
hospitals named today.
(See list of "safety
events" monitored at bottom of news report.)
Adds two quality measures showing how well
dialysis patients are treated for anemia, information to help seniors
better understand facility survival rates
The 2009 recipients were identified in the report
issued today by the leading independent healthcare ratings organization.
These hospitals represent an elite group that save lives, save money and
prevent errors at a higher rate than other U.S. hospitals, the company
says.
If all hospitals performed at the level of Patient
Safety Excellence Award hospitals, not only would 22,771 deaths been
avoided, approximately 211,697 patient safety events could have been
prevented, while saving the U.S. approximately $2.0 billion from 2005
through 2007.
Between 2005 and 2007, 913,215 total patient safety
events were recorded among Medicare beneficiaries, which represent 2.3
percent of the nearly 38 million Medicare hospitalizations. This equates
to one reported patient safety event every 1.7 minutes.
For the sixth consecutive year, HealthGrades has
analyzed patient safety among Medicare patients in all of the nearly
5,000 U.S. non-federal hospitals based on 15 indicators of patient
safety developed by the federal government's Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality (AHRQ).
This year, 242 hospitals, which represent the top
five percent of all hospitals in the U.S., were recognized with a
HealthGrades 2009 Patient Safety Excellence AwardTM. HealthGrades
developed this award to give patients more information about choosing a
hospital.
"Patient safety incidents are one of the leading
causes of death in the U.S. The sad fact is that many, if not most, of
these errors are preventable. Patients shouldn't die or experience
unnecessary harm as a result of medical errors in hospitals," said Rick
May, MD, senior physician consultant at HealthGrades and co-author of
the study.
"The good news is that there are hospitals that are
doing an amazing job when it comes to patient safety and we commend
them. Patients need to know that they have a substantially lower risk of
experiencing a medical error and therefore a lower risk of death or
complications when they are admitted to one of these exceptional
top-performing hospitals."
Study highlights:
Large Safety Gaps Identified Between Top and
Bottom Performing Hospitals
● Patients treated at top-performing hospitals
had, on average, a 43% lower chance of experiencing one or more medical
errors compared to the poorest-performing hospitals.
Patient safety events are common at U.S.
hospitals
● Between 2005 and 2007 there were 913,215 total
patient safety events among Medicare beneficiaries.
Common Patient Safety Events are Very Costly
● Between 2005 and 2007 these patient safety
events were associated with over $6.9 billion of wasted healthcare cost.
Less Improvement Seen Among Most Common Events
● Eight patient safety indicators showed
improvement while seven indicators worsened in 2007 compared to 2005.
Some of the most common and most serious indicators worsened, including
decubitus ulcer (bed sores), sepsis, respiratory failure, deep vein
thrombosis (blood clots in the legs), and pulmonary embolism
(potentially fatal blood clots forming in the lungs).
Approximately One-in-Ten Medicare Patients with
Patient Safety Events Died
● Between 2005 and 2007 there were 97,755 actual
inhospital deaths that occurred among patients who experienced one or
more of the 15 patient safety events.
HealthGrades' individual hospital ratings can be
viewed for free at
HealthGrades.com.
Methodology
The sixth annual HealthGrades Patient Safety in
American Hospitals Study applies methodology developed by the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality to identify the incident rates of 15 patient safety
indicators among Medicare patients at virtually all of the nation's
nearly 5,000 nonfederal hospitals.
Additionally, HealthGrades applied its methodology
using 12 patient safety indicators to identify the best-performing
hospitals, or HealthGrades Patient Safety Excellence Award Hospitals,
which represent the top five percent of all U.S. hospitals.
The following are the patient safety indicators
studied:
● Complications of anesthesia
● Death in low mortality Diagnostic Related Groupings (DRGs)
● Decubitus ulcer (bed sores)
● Death among surgical inpatients with serious treatable
complications
● Iatrogenic pneumothorax
● Selected infections due to medical care
● Post-operative hip fracture
● Post-operative hemorrhage or hematoma
● Post-operative physiologic and metabolic derangements
● Post-operative respiratory failure
● Post-operative pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis
● Post-operative sepsis
● Post-operative abdominal wound dehiscence
● Accidental puncture or laceration
● Transfusion reaction
Information Source:
About HealthGrades (prepared by HealthGradews)
Health Grades, Inc. (Nasdaq: HGRD - News) is the
leading independent healthcare ratings organization, providing quality
ratings, profiles and cost information on the nation's hospitals,
physicians, nursing homes and prescription drugs. Millions of patients
and many of the nation's largest employers, health plans and hospitals
rely on HealthGrades' quality ratings, advisory services and
decision-support resources. The HealthGrades Network of Web sites,
including
HealthGrades.com and
WrongDiagnosis.com, is a top-ten health property according to
ComScore and is the Internet's leading destination for patients choosing
providers. More information on the company can be found at
http://www.healthgrades.com.
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April 7, 2009 Tending to dangerous situations or
safety events has kept many hospitals busy, according to a new study
from HealthGrades, which finds that one such incident occurred for a
Medicare patient every 1.7 minutes between 2005 and 2007. HealthGrades
says 22,771 Medicare deaths could have been avoided if all hospitals
performed at the level of the 2009 Patient Safety Excellence Award
hospitals named today.