Search results for "Never Events"

This annual report provides information on never events reported to the Indiana Medical Error Reporting System. The most common problems in the 114 incidents reported in 2014 were advanced pressure ulcers, retained foreign objects, and wrong-site surgery. Past reports are also available.

This annual report summarizes never events in Maryland hospitals over the previous year. In 2014, reported hospital-acquired infections and readmissions decreased. The authors recommend several corrective actions to build on training and policy changes to guide improvement work, including standardizing processes and engaging hospital and departmental leaders in safety initiatives.

The National Quality Forum originally defined 27 health care "never events"—patient safety events that pose serious harm to patients, but should be considered preventable—in 2002. The 2011 update now consists of 29 events, organized into surgical events (e.g., wrong-site surgery), device events (e.g., air embolism), care management events (e.g., death or disability due to medication errors), patient protection events (e.g., patient suicide), environmental events (e.g., fires), radiologic events, and criminal events. One notable addition to the original list is that serious harm associated with failure to properly follow up on test results is now considered a never event. Since the development and dissemination of this list, many states have mandated that health care facilities report all instances of these events. When such an event occurs, many institutions mandate performance of a root cause analysis.

This Web site provides never event data to promote transparency and informed consumer decision making.

This report from the United Kingdom is intended to guide Primary Care Trusts in implementing never events policies for 2009-2010.

The Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 mandated that the Office of Inspector General (OIG) report to Congress the incidence of "never events" among Medicare beneficiaries, payment by Medicare for services in connection with such events, and the process used to identify events and deny payments. This report addresses that mandate by providing a descriptive analysis of the key issues to understanding hospital-based adverse events. The report is focused around discussion of seven critical issues that are explored in detail. Of note, OIG expanded the study of never events to the broader topic of adverse events in their analysis.

Cataract surgery, one of the most common procedures in the United States, is vulnerable to wrong-site errors. This consensus report reviews the types of errors associated with cataract surgery and discusses evidence-based practices to reduce risks.

Hospital-acquired conditions (HACs), some of which are never events, have been an important focus of patient safety initiatives, with reporting requirements and Medicare nonpayment leading to significant efforts to prevent these conditions. This update to a prior report from AHRQ details and confirms the declining rates in HACs between 2010 and 2013. The analysis indicated that hospitalized patients experienced 1.3 million fewer HACs over the 3 years (2011–2013) than if the HAC rate had remained at the 2010 level. Consequently, the report estimates a $12 billion savings in health care costs and 50,000 fewer hospital patient deaths. These improvements coincided with nationwide efforts to reduce adverse events, such as the Partnership for Patients initiative and Medicare payment reform. The remaining burden of HACs suggests continued investment in this patient safety problem is needed.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) provides consumers with publicly available information on the quality of Medicare-certified hospital care through this Web site. The site includes specific information for both patients and hospitals on how to use the data to guide decision-making and improvement initiatives. Most recently, listings from the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HACRP) and data on Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals were added to the reports available.

Hospitalized patients continue to suffer iatrogenic harm, according to this study of Medicare patients completed by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). Using methodology similar to the landmark Harvard Medical Practice Study, this study found that 13.5% of hospitalized Medicare patients experienced an adverse event, of which nearly half were considered preventable. However, fewer than 2% of patients experienced either a never event or a preventable complication for which hospitals are no longer reimbursed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. These results are similar to the OIG's prior 2008 report. Based on these results, OIG recommends further efforts to accurately measure adverse events, and also recommends broadening the "no pay for errors" policy. The challenges of accurately measuring safety problems are discussed in an AHRQ WebM&M commentary.

This brief provides information on 101 sentinel events reported to the state of Utah in 2009. The report also includes background on efforts to address such incidents.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) no longer reimburses hospitals for the costs associated with certain preventable adverse events, many (but not all) of which are considered never events. This report from the federal Office of the Inspector General (OIG) examines the adverse events in a sample of Medicare beneficiaries. As outlined in a previous report, the OIG chose to evaluate the overall incidence of adverse events, including "no pay for errors" conditions, never events, and all other adverse consequences of hospitalization, including non-preventable adverse events. Therefore, the 15% overall incidence of adverse events found in this study should be interpreted with caution. Less than 1% of patients experienced a never event, and approximately 4% experienced a condition on CMS's no pay for errors list.