personal injury law

Article written by: Annie Reynolds

Report: Most Errors at Hospital Go Unreported According to a recent report, only one out of seven medical errors, accidents and other events that harm Medicare patients are reported by hospital employees. The report, released earlier this month by federal investigators, estimates that more than 130,000 Medicare beneficiaries experience one or more adverse events in hospitals in a single month Hospitals are required to track medical errors and adverse patient events and then analyze the causes of such events. Despite this requirement, most events pertaining to Medicare patients were not reported. The unreported events were found by independent doctors, who reviewed patient records. Perhaps even more troubling, the report also found that even after the facilities investigated the harmful outcomes, the facilities rarely changed their practices to prevent the event from happening again. The study further reported that hospital administrators knew that employees were not reporting these events. According to the study, hospital employees may not have known what constituted patient harm or the employees assumed other employees would report the incident. In addition, employees reportedly believed that some harmful events were isolated and that they were unlikely to occur again. Investigators identified 302 events of preventable harm to patients, 128 of which were considered serious. Harmful events noted included death, severe bedsores, hospital-acquired infections, medication errors, delirium resulting from the overuse of painkillers and excessive bleeding linked to improper use of blood thinners.

Annie Reynolods is a plaintiffs attorney

in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Annie is an advocate for those seriously harmed by negligent actions of others.

Sheridan & Murray LLC

1600 Market Street, Suite 2500 Philadelphia, PA 19103 866-INJURIES
or

866-465-8743

www.SheridanAndMurray.com

personal injury law

Article written by: Annie Reynolds

If you or someone you know has suffered serious injury or death as a result of medical negligence, you may want to consider contacting a personal injury attorney to explain and protect your rights.

Annie Reynolods is a plaintiffs attorney

in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Annie is an advocate for those seriously harmed by negligent actions of others.

Sheridan & Murray LLC

1600 Market Street, Suite 2500 Philadelphia, PA 19103 866-INJURIES
or

866-465-8743

www.SheridanAndMurray.com