A large majority of adverse events experienced by Medicare patients in the hospital setting may not be reported, according to a study released last week by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of the Inspector General.
The report (synopsis – full text) found hospital incident reporting systems captured only an estimated 14 percent of patient harm events experienced by Medicare beneficiaries. Almost two-thirds of the events (61 percent) were not perceived as reportable by staff.
Among other recommendations, the OIG suggested that AHRQ and CMS work together to create a list of reportable events and provide technical assistance to hospitals using the list.
Specifically, the findings are based on a study of Medicare beneficiaries discharged from 195 acute care hospitals in 2008.
Most adverse hospital events not reported, agency reports