Hospitals profit from their mistakes when insurance companies pay for the extended stays and care patients receive because of surgical errors. According to the New York Times, researchers from Boston Consulting Group, Harvard’s schools of medicine and public health and Texas Health Resources say error rates would decline if hospitals stopped being paid for errors.
The researchers based their findings on a review of the medical records of 34,256 patients who underwent surgery. Of these patients, 1,820 had at least one complication that could have been prevented. These included blood clots, pneumonia and infected incisions. Complications added an average of $30,500 to patient bills. (The average bill for patients with no complications was $18,900 versus $49,400 for those with complications.)
‘Never Events’ Happen Too Often
In 2012, researchers from Johns Hopkins University disclosed that “never events” – surgical errors that should never occur – happen more than 4,000 times a year in the U.S. As one researcher pointed out:
“There are mistakes in health care that are not preventable. Infection rates will likely never get down to zero even if everyone does everything right, for example. But these events we’ve estimated are totally preventable. This study highlights that we are nowhere near where we should be and there’s a lot of work to be done.”
Types of “never events” include:
- Performing surgeries on the wrong body part.
- Performing the wrong surgery on a patient.
- Leaving foreign objects in the body, such as surgical tools or sponges.
Law Firm of Ginarte Gonzalez & Winograd
If you or a family member has been seriously injured due to a preventable medical error, you need experienced lawyers on your side. The New York and New Jersey medical malpractice lawyers at Ginarte Gonzalez & Winograd will work to get you compensation you deserve. Contact us today for a free consultation.
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