About $12 billion in healthcare costs were saved from 2010 to 2013 due to less patient harm, according to a report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
According to the report, which used preliminary estimates for 2013, there was a 17 percent drop, from 145 to 121, in hospital-acquired conditions per 1,000 discharges from 2010 to 2013.
If rates had stayed as they were in 2010, patients would have experienced a total of 1.3 million more hospital-acquired conditions over the years that followed (2011, 2012 and 2013), according to the report.
In other words, the decline in hospital-acquired conditions resulted in about 50,000 less patient hospital deaths, along with about $12 billion in healthcare costs savings according to the report.
The report did not pinpoint specific causes for the decline in patient harm. However, it did note that hospitals nationwide have focused on reducing adverse events.
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