Surgical Errors Now Topping $1.5 Billion

Surgical errors are of the most costly nature. While the $1.5 billion figure is an astounding one and has a great effect on the medical industry, it is nothing compared to the impact of surgical errors on the patients themselves. And the bottom line is that the number can and should be reduced.

According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), a division of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), employers pay nearly $1.5 billion each year for medical errors that occur during or after surgery; errors that could be potentially preventable. The study was authored by William E. Encinosa, Ph.D. and Fred J. Hellinger, Ph.D., both employed by ARQ, and was published in the July issue of the Health Services Research journal……read more here