Patient safety report reveals more errors but fewer deaths in Minnesota hospitals

The number of deaths reported via Minnesota's public reporting system for adverse health events last year was 13, its lowest since 2011, according to the state Department of Health's annual report. State law requires all 143 hospitals and 70 ambulatory surgical centers to report an adverse event and a thorough analysis of what caused it. The report reveals 308 mistakes reported during the Oct. 2013 and 2014 reporting period. The most common errors involved pressure ulcers and retained foreign objects, but several improvements, including a decline in the number of patient falls and wrong-site, surgical/invasive procedures. The report also noted that organizations described the biggest patient safety challenges they face were preventing falls with injury, lack of internal resources to implement safety practices and difficulty with coordination of patient safety efforts within their facilities and statewide. Report (.pdf)