HFMA.org – Dec. 24, 2008.
In a study of adverse events affecting Medicare beneficiaries in two selected counties, the Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that 15 percent of hospitalized beneficiaries experienced an adverse event during their hospital stays. In the report, OIG defines the term “adverse event” as harm to a patient as a result of medical care, such as infection associated with use of a catheter. Click title to read more…
The OIG report also notes that a difficulty in determining adverse events incidence rates involves differences in the definitions used by various entities. The National Quality Forum (NQF) list of Serious Reportable Events and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) list of hospital-acquired conditions often address the same adverse event but define the event differently. For example, the OIG sample included two adverse events involving poor glycemic control, both of which resulted in serious harm. However, because of differences in the way specific adverse events are defined, one case met the criteria of NQF’s list and the other met the CMS criteria.
The OIG report concludes that although its results are not nationally representative, the extent of adverse events and temporary harm found in the case study substantiates concerns about the incidence of adverse events in hospitals and the importance of safety initiatives to reduce occurrences.
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