One in four people with Medicare harmed in hospital

A new HHS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) study finds that one in four people with Medicare were harmed in hospital in 2018. As a result, they experienced worse health outcomes. The study further finds that 43 percent of the time, the harm was likely avoidable.

One in 16 hospitalized patients with Medicare needed more treatment as a result of the harm they experienced. These treatments add hundreds of millions of dollars to Medicare spending. Patients also often face increased costs.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) claims that patient safety is one of its top priorities. The OIG believes that heightened understanding of the types of harm patients experience in hospital will help HHS reduce harm to patients.

More than one in eight hospitalized patients experienced harm (13 percent) temporarily. Another 12 percent experienced harm that led to longer hospital stays, permanent harm and/or died.

Patients received different types of poor or substandard care in hospital, according to the OIG. Prescription drugs were responsible for most patient harm (43 percent). Patient care was responsible for harm about a quarter of the time (23 percent). Medical interventions were responsible for harm more than one fifth of the time (22 percent). Slightly more than one in ten patients (11 percent) acquired an infection in hospital.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, anecdotally it appears that a higher proportion of people with Medicare have been harmed in hospital.

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