JAMA: MEDICAL ERRORS RESULT IN LONGER STAYS, MORE EXPENSES

Injuries caused by medical errors in hospitals often result in increased lengths of stay and larger medical expenses, according to an article in the Oct. 8 Journal of the American Medical Association.

Researchers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and Johns Hopkins University examined the excess length of stay, costs and deaths attributable to medical injuries during hospitalization. The researchers said postoperative bloodstream infections had the most serious consequences, resulting in hospital stays of almost 11 days longer than normal, added costs of nearly $60,000 and an increased risk of death after surgery of 22 percent. Researchers estimated that 3,000 Americans die each year from postoperative bloodstream infections.

The next most serious event was postoperative reopening of a surgical incision, with nine excess days, $40,000 in added costs and a 10 percent increase in the risk of death, which could equate to about 405 deaths annually from reopening of surgical incisions.

"The nation's hospitals can use this information to enhance the efforts they already are taking to reduce medical errors and improve patient safety," says AHRQ director Carolyn M. Clancy.

The AHRQ researchers said the study suggests more research is needed to understand circumstances and risk factors associated with medical injuries. For more information, visit www.jama.ama-assn.org.

New technology and an aging population have increased demand for radiologic technologists, but their numbers are not keeping pace with the need, reports the Oct. 19, 2003, edition of Newsday. The article notes that the use of diagnostic imaging services has been increasing by about 4 percent a year, even as the number of registered rad techs has remained stable. The result: Rad techs are working longer shifts and patients are enduring long delays for routine exams.

The article features Donna McKenzie, a single mother who works as a technical manager in the radiology department of Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center. She tells Newsday that it's not unusual for her to work three consecutive shifts, or 24 hours, on weekends, arriving at the hospital Saturday morning and returning home Sunday afternoon.

"You realize there's a shortage and, if you don't go in, there are not enough people for the patients," McKenzie says. "You do it so the patients don't have to wait too long."

Though much attention has been paid to the nursing shortage, the vacancy rate for rad tech jobs is higher, at 15 percent compared to 13 percent for nursing jobs, Ceela McElveny, director of public relations for the American Society of Radiologic Technologists, told Newsday.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that the United States will need 70,000 rad techs by 2010. Failure to fill these spots could increase the wait times for X-rays, mammograms and MRIs, which in turn could delay diagnoses of diseases such as breast cancer.

Nurses rank no. 1 in Gallup's annual survey on the honesty and ethics of various professions, followed by other medical professionals like doctors, pharmacists and dentists. Car salesmen, HMO managers, insurance salesmen and advertising practitioners are rated as the least honest and ethical.

In a recent CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, Americans were asked to rate the honesty and ethical standards of people in 23 professions as very high, high, average, low or very low.

As has been the case in four out of the five times they have been included in the poll, nurses rank higher than any other profession, with 83 percent of respondents saying the honesty and ethical standards of nurses are "very high" or "high." Occupations near the bottom of the list include business executives, congressmen, lawyers, HMO managers and car salesmen.