AHRQ Patient Safety Network: Efforts To Improve Patient Safety Result in 1.3 Million Fewer Patient Harms: Interim Update on 2013 Annual Hospital-Acquired Condition Rate and Estimates of Cost Savings and Deaths Averted From 2010 to 2013.

AHRQ Patient Safety Network

Report from AHRQ finds 17% reduction in hospital-acquired conditions over 3-year period.Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; December 2014. AHRQ Publication No. 15-0011-EF.

Efforts To Improve Patient Safety Result in 1.3 Million Fewer Patient Harms: Interim Update on 2013 Annual Hospital-Acquired Condition Rate and Estimates of Cost Savings and Deaths Averted From 2010 to 2013.

Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; December 2014. AHRQ Publication No. 15-0011-EF.

This report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality provides estimates on hospital-acquired conditions (HACs)—including never events and health care–associated infections—for hospitals in the United States from 2010 to 2013. These adverse events continue to decline steadily, with an estimated 9% decrease in most recent year over year comparison. In 2013, there were 121 HACs for every 1000 hospital admissions. These improvements resulted in significant cost-savings and reduced morbidity and mortality rates. The authors attribute this change to CMS payment reform and to the Partnership for Patients initiative. Although uncertainty about the cause of these improvements remains, the lower HAC rate clearly demonstrates that efforts to reduce patient safety problems in hospitalized patients are yielding results. The substantial remaining burden of HACs argues for more investment in patient safety in hospital settings.

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