WASHINGTON, July 28 (UPI) -- Preventing
medical errors would reduce loss of life and could reduce healthcare
costs by as much as 30 percent, U.S. researchers said.
"Many hospitals are struggling to survive financially,"
study co-author William Encinosa, senior economist at the Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality, said in a statement. "The
point of our paper is that the cost savings from reducing medical
errors are much larger than previously thought."
Encinosa and colleagues tracked insurance claims for 5.6 million
enrollees from 2001 to 2002. The researchers concluded that the
effects of medical errors continue long after a patient leaves the
hospital. Medical error studies that focus only on inpatient stay
can underestimate the costs by up to 30 percent, Encinosa said.
The study, published in the journal Health Services Research, found
that the large difference in calculations for medical error expenses
might mean that interventions to increase patient safety -- like
adding more nursing staff -- could be more cost-effective than
previously thought.
A 1998 report by the Institute of Medicine estimated 44,000 to
98,000 Americans die because of medical mistakes each year, costing
some $17 billion to $29 billion.
