Little has been done since the publication of the Institute of Medicine's report in 2000 which found that approximately 98,000 patients die each year from hospital acquired conditions.¹ The CDC estimates that there are 1.7 million hospital acquired infections each year that cause nearly 100,000 deaths,^2,3which costs our US healthcare system between 28 billion to 33 billion dollars each year.⁴ Each infection can produce an additional cost of hospitalization of between $32,000 and $38,656.^5,6

Report an Event to the Empowered Patient Coalition & Consumers Union Safe Patient Project

History:  The term "Never Event" was introduced in 2001 at the National Quality Forum by Dr. Ken Kizer, in response to severe, largely preventable, hospital acquired conditions.  The NQF initially defined 27 conditions which were revised and expanded to 28 in 2006.   The term "Never Events" was also redefined as "Serious Reportable Events".  Many consumer groups including The LeapFrog Group have opposed this change in terminology.  See Leapfrog Group's Policy Statement

Below are a list of the 28 NQF Serious Reportable Conditions.  Surprising to many consumers, they do not included hospital acquired infections.  Medicare has a separate list of hospital acquired conditions which are slated for nonpayment.  This list also contains severe events and do contain some hospital acquired conditions.

http://www.neverevents.org/

Kentucky Watch works to focus greater citizen, government and media attention on the health care and insurance industries, pushing for stronger regulation, greater accountability, and more open access to information about how these industries discipline wrongdoers, set rates, and establish standards. 

These efforts include sponsorships of these projects: The Insurance Company Accountability Network * Patient Safety Advocates of Kentucky * Civil Justice Program * Department of Insurance Monitor * Board of Medical Licensure Monitor.

http://www.kywatch.org/

Our Key Issues: Minimum staffing standards * Drug testing of all NH employees * Criminal background checks on all job applicants in nursing homes * Transparency in nursing home enforcement * Transparency in posting nursing home ownership on state’s Web site * Stop the over-use of anti-psychotics * Stop involuntary mandatory arbitration agreements * Provide good dental care for nursing home residents * Mandate full-funding for all nursing home district ombudsmen * Create advisory committee on Civil Monetary Penalties Fund * UK Continuing Care Community and Institute on Long-Term Care. 

http://kynursinghomereform.org/

Certificate of Need
http://www.healthwatchusa.org/certificate_of_need.htm

Nursing Care
http://www.healthwatchusa.org/nursing_care.htm

MRSA and HAI
http://www.healthwatchusa.org/healthcare_acquired_infections.htm

Health Care Value
http://www.healthwatchusa.org/healthcare_value.htm

Transparency Costs
http://www.healthwatchusa.org/transparency_cost.htm

Transparency–Quality
http://www.healthwatchusa.org/transparency_quality.htm

Health Care Competition
http://www.healthwatchusa.org/healthcare_competition.htm

Using the Freedom of Information Act to obtain information.
http://www.healthwatchusa.org/freedom_of_information.htm

http://www.healthwatchusa.org/