​Nearly 50,000 additional patients survived and an estimated $12 billion in healthcare costs were saved due to a reduction in hospital-acquired condition rates between 2010 and 2013, reports the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). In total, estimates the report, patients contracted 1.3 million fewer hospital-acquired conditions—a 17% decline. "According to preliminary estimates, in 2013 alone, almost 35,000 fewer patients died in hospitals, and approximately 800,000 fewer incidents of harm occurred, saving approximately $8 billion," notes a related press release. Hospital-acquired conditions that were tracked included adverse drug events, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, central-line-associated bloodstream infections, pressure ulcers, and surgical site infections. However, "there is still much more work to be done, even with the 17 percent decline . . . . Almost 10 percent of hospitalized patients [in 2013] experienced one or more of the HACs [hospital-acquired conditions] we measured. That rate is still too high," write the report authors. Additional coverage is provided by the Washington Post, and AHRQ offers additional resources for healthcare-associated infections.

HRC Recommends: The healthcare profession has made progress in improving patient safety over the last three years with the federal government's initiative to reduce preventable hospital-acquired conditions; however, more work must still be done. Risk management and patient safety leadership should review the organization's healthcare-acquired condition data and ensure that measures implemented to reduce such rates are effective and actively supported by all staff members.