Inspector General: One in four Medicare patients harmed in hospitals


The following is an excerpt from MedPage Today.

Medicare patients continue to experience harm during hospital stays, even after a decade of intensive efforts to decrease provider-caused adverse events, according to a report from the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG).

Among the roughly 1 million Medicare patients who were discharged from hospitals in October 2018, a total of 258,323 experienced an adverse or temporary harm event during their stay.

And 12% experienced events that led to longer stays, lifesaving interventions, permanent harm, or death. “This projects to 121,089 Medicare patients having experienced at least one adverse event during the 1-month study period,” the report stated.

Of these adverse events, 45% were said to have been preventable. According to the report, such events were linked to substandard or inadequate care — for example, using more aggressive pain management regimens after surgery than necessary, or unnecessary delays in scheduling surgeries.

In one of many case studies and patient stories included in the report, a patient required surgery to remove dead tissue from the small intestine. “However, providers unnecessarily delayed surgery for 5 days while the patient continued to deteriorate. This delay led to a cascade of harms that included worsening of the small intestine, contamination of the abdomen with pus, septic shock with an associated kidney injury, and delirium,” the report noted.

Ten percent of adverse events contributed to patient deaths, translating to 1.4%, or 14,800 patients, during the 1-month study period.

Leah Binder, president and CEO of the Leapfrog Group, which routinely grades hospitals on various safety measures, called the report’s findings “outrageous.” (Continued)

Read full article here.

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6 thoughts on “Inspector General: One in four Medicare patients harmed in hospitals”

  1. This Article ? You left out Nursing Homes too sharyl ? How many of these people was also on both Medicare and there States Medicaid ??? Because these Hospitals created more damage to these people they should have to reimburse Medicare and Medicaid for more medical Bills due to further injuries ? Also depending on each States Medicaid there Attorney General’s office should be getting involved in there cases to look after there States Medicaid Medicare systems and also to look after these people involved cases to protect elderly people. This is why each state has a Attorney General..Each State don’t just elect Attorney General’s to sit behind a desk and Blow bubbles with bubble gum rolling there eyes watching the Jerry Springer. Show ???

    1. Can you be a bit more articulate ?

      ( FYI, I am among those on Medicare that incurred permanent physical and health damage by incompetent and negligent care givers ! )

  2. Steven Strolberg

    My wife experienced a severe injury from improper care which could of been prevented. After Hospital discharge she needed specialized care several times a week for several months at out of pocket cost. We submitted photos and written documentation disputing billing charges. The Hospital denied the dispute claim after 2 reviews stating they could not substantiate injury according to their nursing records.

  3. My Medicare approved “general physician” wanted me to get the “clot shot”. I knew she was off her rocker when she admitted to being “fully vaccinated”. Now my primary physician is the natural, supplement provider and his/her, non-China manufactured, lifestyle alternatives. The hell with big pharmaceutical BS.

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