AHRQ: Hospital acquired-conditions decline by nearly 1 million

Hospital-acquired conditions declined by 13 percent between 2014 and 2017, preventing an estimated 20,500 deaths and $7.7 billion in health care costs, according to preliminary data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. HACs decreased by an estimated 910,000 over the period, including a 37 percent decline in C. difficile infections and 28 percent decline in adverse drug events, showing that patient safety initiatives such as the Hospital Improvement Innovation Networks are working to make health care safer, the agency said. AHA’s Health Research & Educational Trust leads the nation’s largest HIIN.