“Never Events” Represent 1/6th of All Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

According to AON, a leading provider of risk management services, insurance, and consulting, “Hospital-acquired infections, hospital-acquired injuries, objects left in surgery and pressure ulcers account for one out of every six [medical malpractice] claims.”

These four patient safety errors make up a portion of the larger list of “never events,” which are events flagged by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) as “serious adverse events during inpatient stays that should never occur,” and “are reasonably preventable through adherence to evidence-based guidelines.”

Hospital expenses incurred due to never events are not reimbursed by CMS.  In addition, hospitals are prohibited from passing the costs onto patients.  Consequently, never events prove quite costly for hospitals even before the threat of litigation.  In 2007, the last year CMS reimbursed hospitals for never events, pressure ulcers cost CMS $43,180 per incident.  Falls with injury weighed in at $33,894 per occurrence.

“The increased awareness surrounding these non-reimbursable conditions may cause a rise in the frequency of related hospital professional liability claims,” said Greg Larcher, director and actuary of Aon Global Risk Consulting.

Preventing Never Events with New Technology

As the cost of never events continues to rise, new technologies such as Dalcon Alert have been developed to help hospitals prevent never event incidents.  Dalcon Alert is a new solution from Dalcon Communication Systems, designed to help caregivers prevent patient falls and pressure ulcers.