HHS: Quality improvements saved 15,000 lives, $4 billion

HHS: Quality improvements saved 15,000 lives, $4 billion

HHS: Quality improvements saved 15,000 lives, $4 billion

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) sent this bulletin at 05/07/2014 04:03 PM EDT

New HHS preliminary data show an overall 9 percent decrease in hospital acquired conditions nationally during 2011 and 2012. National reductions in adverse drug events, falls, infections and other forms of hospital-induced harm are estimated to have prevented nearly 15,000 hospital deaths, avoided 560,000 patient injuries and saved approximately $4 billion in health spending during that period.

  

The Affordable Care Act is also helping reduce hospital readmissions. After holding constant at 19 percent from 2007 to 2011 and decreasing to 18.5 percent in 2012, the Medicare all-cause 30-day readmission rate further decreased to approximately 17.5 percent in 2013. This represents an 8 percent reduction in the rate and an estimated 150,000 fewer hospital readmissions among Medicare beneficiaries between January 2012 and December 2013. 

These major strides in patient safety are a result of public-private partnerships and active engagement by patients and families and include efforts from the federal Partnership for Patients initiative and Hospital Engagement Networks, Quality Improvement Organizations, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and many others. 

Select to access the HHS news release and the AHRQ methods report.