Study finds hospitals make money off of errors

May 17, 2013

A recent study released by The Journal of American Medicine found that hospitals are making a profit off of surgical errors. Patients who experienced surgical errors often required longer hospital stays and additional procedures, many covered and paid for by insurance.

How much of a profit? The study estimated an average of almost $40,000 per patient with private insurance and just under $2,000 for patients with Medicare. Although the researchers, affiliated with Harvard's schools of medicine, the Boston Consulting Group and Texas Health Resources, were careful to note they did not believe hospitals were trying to make money off of these complications, it is clear the current system makes it difficult to encourage hospitals to implement improvements.

One seemingly easy change involves implementing a checklist program. Prior to completing each surgery, the staff would go through the checklist. Items included in this list are double checking the patient's name, reviewing the procedure that will be completed, ensuring that are no concerning allergies and ensuring that medications are administered correctly.

The research adds fuel to the quantity versus quality debate, with proponents for change arguing the findings support that physicians are encouraged to focus on completing large numbers of procedures instead of focusing on doing each procedure safely. Increasing the focus on safety could reduce the risk of many of the complications used in this study. Some commonly listed complications that could have been avoided were the development of pneumonia, blood clots and various infections.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have attempted to reduce the risk of similar complications by refusing to pay for procedures linked to preventable mistakes. This includes catheter-associated urinary tract infections and certain surgical site infections as well as a list of "never events." These events are things that should never happen, including performing the wrong procedure or completing the right procedure on the wrong patient.

If a physician does not take steps to reduce these risks, he or she may be guilty of negligence. Negligence on the part of a physician or other members of the hospital's staff can lead to a medical malpractice claim.

Making a case for medical malpractice

In order to make a medical malpractice claim based on negligence, a patient must first establish that a physician or provider of care owed a duty. A common way to fulfill this first step is by proving there was a patient/doctor relationship. The patient must then prove the physician deviated from the standard of care. This can be fulfilled by using a medical expert to testify on both the standard of care and that the physician failed to meet it.

After these two steps are taken, the patient must prove that the physician's failure to meet the standard of care led to an injury.

If you were injured due to a physician or medical provider's negligence, compensation may be available to cover a variety of expenses including the cost of medical and rehabilitative care. Contact an experienced medical malpractice attorney to discuss your options and better ensure your legal rights are protected.

Article provided by Powers & Santola, LLP
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