DHHS releases 2010 Adverse Events in Hospitals report

The Department of Health and Human services just released an 81-page report titled: Adverse Events in Hospitals: National Incidence among Medicare Beneficiaries. Using a nationally representative random sample of 780 Medicare beneficiaries discharged in October 2008, physicians determined (1) whether an adverse event occurred, (2) whether the event was an NQF Serious Reportable Event or a Medicare hospital-acquired conditions, (3) what the level of harm was to the patient, and (4) whether the event was preventable.  Using this sample, they estimated that 13.5% of all hospitalized Medicare patients experienced an adverse event and in 1.5% the AE contributed to their deaths.  These extrapolate to 134,000 adverse events and 15,000 deaths in a single month. Multiply by 11.7498 (or 365.2425/31) if you want yearly estimates for an average year.  Yes, I'm being a smart a**, but multiplying by 12 is incorrect.

One thing we're always concerned about on this blog is the percent of HAIs that are actually preventable in the current 'get to zero' world that we live in.  In the DHHS report, physicians estimated that 44% of the AEs were preventable, 51% were not preventable and in 5% they were unsure.  The costs were $324 million in October 2008 or 3.5% of all hospitalization costs. They suggest that the FY2009 attributable costs of AEs were $4.4 billion, with two-thirds of the costs being associated with extended hospital stays.

So what about HAIs?  Table 3 in the report classifies the 128 AEs into categories and 19 or 15% of the AEs were HAIs.  Thus, 2.5% of all hospitalized Medicare patients had an HAI. There were 5 UTIs, 4 CLABSI, 4 other BSI, 4 RTIs and 2 SSIs.  The physicians classified only 60% of the infections as preventable.  I wonder if this will help Mike achieve one of his wishes for the 2010 New Year? I could probably dig deeper but I've got work to do and I don't want to ruin all of your fun.

Link: November 2010 DHHS Adverse Events in Hospitals report.

h/t: Megan McKenna