The U.S. saved 50,000 lives from 2011 to 2013, thanks to reduction in hospital mistakes

(Image credit: Sergio Torres/Getty)

last updated 8 January 2015

Estimates released by the Obama administration on Tuesday revealed that hospitals have saved approximately 50,000 lives — and $12 billion — thanks to fewer hospital mistakes.

The report covers hospital data from 2011 to 2013, during which time American hospitals saw a 17 percent drop in "incidents of hospital-induced harm," including adverse reactions to drugs, infections, falls, and bedsores. In 2010, 27 percent of hospitalized Medicare patients "sustained injuries associated with their care," McClatchy DC reports.

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said in a speech Tuesday that the data represents "historic progress on healthcare quality." HHS estimates that nearly 10 percent of U.S. hospital patients experience hospital-acquired medical conditions each year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that two million patients suffer from hospital-acquired infections.