The number of 'never events' in New Hampshire hospitals appears to be climbing in the five years since public reporting became mandatory in the state, according to an article in New Hampshire Business Review.
In 2010, 42 events were reported by the state's 26 hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers. In 2014, there were 73 such events, and none were reported in ASCs. Experts say the increase could be attributed to alterations in the definition of pressure sores and a general upswing in the reporting of such instances.
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Michael Fleming, director of the New Hampshire Bureau of Licensing and Certification, said in the NHBR article, "I believe everybody is engaged to pull these numbers down to as low as possible, but in order to do that you want to encourage full transparency so that people can figure out why these things are happening."
Mr. Fleming went on to assert that another year of reporting will be necessary to see if the increase in numbers requires further investigation.
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