According to findings released this week from a study commissioned by the Society of Actuaries (SOA) and completed by consultants with Milliman, Inc., the report found that “measurable medical errors cost the U.S. economy $19.5 billion in 2008.” Approximately $17 billion was the result of providing inpatient, outpatient and prescription drug services to individuals who were affected by medical errors.
The impact of medical errors is also significant because as the study found, “$1.1 billion was from lost productivity due to related short-term disability claims, and $1.4 billion was lost from increased death rates among individuals who experienced medical errors.” As a result, actuaries “believe that reducing medical errors is an effective way to control healthcare cost trends for the commercial population,” according to results from a recent SOA survey.
What is particularly troubling is that while the study found 1.5 million measurable medical errors occurred in 2008, this “number includes only the errors that could be identified through claims data, so the total economic impact of medical errors is in fact greater than what we have reported.”
More from here