HealthGrades Releases Patient Safety Study

The latest HealthGrades report, based on methods developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) documented (pdf) a rate of patient safety incidents at 1.16 million cases based on almost all hospitals throughout the United States. The total costs attributed to such was $8.6 billion. The study examined data from 2003-2005 from non-federal facilities.

The study noted an increased rate of overall safety incidents, comparing 2003 to 2005. During this time period, ten of the 16 rates increased by an average of 11.5 percent. The six that decreased were, on average, 8 percent lower.

Of the patients involved in safety incidents, 284,798 died; almost 250,000 of those deaths could have been prevented. Three patient safety indicators were associated with the highest rates of safety incidents: decubitus ulcer, failure to rescue, and post-operative respiratory failure. During this reporting period, safety incident rates for both decubitus ulcers and respiratory failure both increased. The rate of safety incidents for failure to rescue improved six percent.

The study also assessed performance of individual institutions with respect to patient safety. Both the rate of patient safety and composite scores were calculated for facilities. This component of the study noted wide ranges in hospital’s scores on Patient Safety Indicators, also developed by the AHRQ. Findings were used in the naming of the 2007 Distinguished Hospitals for Patient Safety.

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