Abstract
The authors estimated the impact of potentially preventable patient safety events, identified by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs), on patient outcomes: mortality, length of stay (LOS), and cost. The PSIs were applied to all acute inpatient hospitalizations at Veterans Health Administration (VA) facilities in fiscal 2001. Two methods - regression analysis and multivariable case matching - were used independently to control for patient and facility characteristics while predicting the effect of the PSI on each outcome. The authors found statistically significant (p <.0001) excess mortality, LOS, and cost in all groups with PSIs. The magnitude of the excess varied considerably across the PSIs. These VA findings are similar to those from a previously published study of nonfederal hospitals, despite differences between VA and non-VA systems. This study contributes to the literature measuring outcomes of medical errors and provides evidence that AHRQ PSIs may be useful indicators for comparison across delivery systems.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 67-87 |
Number of pages | 21 |
Journal | Medical Care Research and Review |
Volume | 65 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 2008 |
Keywords
- Cost
- Mortality
- Outcomes
- Patient safety
- Patient safety indicators
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Nursing(all)
- Health(social science)
- Health Professions(all)
- Health Policy