More profitable hospitals record fewer medical errors

A new federally-funded study finds that hospitals with financial problems are more likely to commit medical errors than those which are more profitable. A team from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) compared error rates at 176 Florida hospitals with data on their overall financial well-being. The researchers found that errors are 12 percent more likely to occur at hospitals which are losing money. The study appears in this week's issue of the medical journal Inquiry.

"A number of studies have touched on this, but in a tangential way," comments AHRQ Director Carolyn Clancy. "This is a very clever way of examining the subject." Researchers also reported an interesting twist: nurses are more likely to make preventable mistakes when working with female patients.

- see this story from the Miami Herald

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