Medication Errors Affect 1.2 Million US Hospitalizations a Year, Study Shows

Peer-reviewed journal American Health & Drug Benefits reported that its new study indicates that medication errors, specifically those related to injectable medications, affect 1.2 million US-based hospitalizations a year. These errors, also known as preventable adverse drug events, result in an average of $600,000 per year in extra costs per hospital.

As quoted in the market news:

Based on this medication-level analysis of reported harmful errors and the frequency of inpatient administrations with actuarial projections, we estimate that preventable ADEs associated with injectable medications impact 1.2 million hospitalizations annually. Using a matched cohort analysis of healthcare claims as a basis for evaluating incremental costs, we estimate that inpatient preventable ADEs associated with injectable medications increase the annual US payer costs by $2.7 billion to $5.1 billion, averaging $600,000 in extra costs per hospital.

Click here to read the full American Health & Drug Benefits report.