More than 32,000 deaths and $9 Billion in costs a year; report.
Postoperative infections, surgical wounds, accidental openings, surgical equipment left in opening during surgery and other often preventable complications lead to more than 32,000 US hospital deaths and more than $9 billion in extra costs annually, a U.S. governments Agency for Healthcare Research reported.
This study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Wednesday.
The study follows a 1999 Institute of Medicine report that said medical mistakes kill anywhere from 44,000 to 98,000 hospitalized Americans a year. That report focused national attention on the problem and led to numerous recommendations for improving safety.
The new report, based on data from 994 hospitals nationwide in 2000, provides a more detailed look at specific complications and the costs associated with each one.
comment:
This again points out that Medicine is not Healthcare, if the operation is a success but the patient dies, how do you believe this is health care. Whatever happened to the Hippocratic oath....do no harm.? And who pays the costs incurred in these situations, and what about the cost of the loss of a loved one, husband, wife, mother, father, child or friend.
Posted by yesmamm
at 9:54 AM PDT
Updated: Thursday, 9 October 2003 12:01 PM PDT