12/17/2015    

HEALTHCARE NEWS

HHS Claims Success for National Patient Safety Initiatives

 

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been linked to a significant reduction in patient deaths and healthcare costs related to hospital-acquired conditions. According to a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) report, approximately 87,000 fewer patients died in hospitals and as much as $20 billion in healthcare expenditures were avoided over the four years following the signing into law of the ACA in 2010. The HHS released its report on the success of national patient safety efforts in December.

 

The data included in the report indicate that a 17 percent decline in hospital-acquired conditions occurred over the period from 2010 to 2014, resulting in 2.1 million fewer hospital-acquired conditions.The ACA included provisions that called upon hospital systems to reduce the number of adverse events experienced by patients, provisions such as Medicare payment incentives to improve quality of care.

 

Source: Univadia via HHS