ST PAUL, Minn. — Editor's note: The above video originally aired on Aug. 3, 2022.
A new report from the Minnesota Department of Health says incidents of patient harm and errors in hospitals rose for the fourth-straight year in 2023.
Researchers say before 2021, the overall number of "adverse health events" had remained stable but the numbers reached new highs last year with 610 errors and 222 serious injuries.
Sixteen patients died last year from the reported errors. For perspective, 21 people died in 2022, 14 in 2021 and 11 in 2020.
Besides the increase in hospital errors, the 2023 data also showed "a worrying rise in events that resulted in severe injury – a recorded event that is associated with serious injury or death."
After dropping in 2022, the number of severe injuries or deaths rose last year to an all-time high total of 238 and made up nearly 40% of all reported errors.
MDH officials said the post-pandemic trend of longer patient stays in hospital can be seen as a reason for higher numbers in 2023.
Pressure ulcers, commonly known as "bed sores," led the categories of errors with 284 reported cases. Falls were the second-most common reported event with 96. The loss of a biological specimen such as blood, urine or saliva was third with 49 reported cases. Forty-two cases of retained objects were reported in 2023.
According to MDH, a retained object is something that is left in a patient's body following surgery. The objects can include small sponges, clamps, tubing or other equipment that breaks off in the body. They can be discovered right away before the patient leaves the operating room, or later if the patient has pain issues. Other categories of preventable errors reported were wrong site surgery, medication errors, wrong procedure and product device malfunction.
"Though adverse health events in these settings continue to be rare relative to overall patient volume, we are troubled by the current trend lines of both the number of adverse events and their severity," Minnesota Commissioner of Health Dr. Brooke Cunningham said in a news release. "We remain committed to conducting these types of analyses and advocating for changes in how care is delivered to improve outcomes and ensure patient safety for all Minnesotans."
The adverse health events data was collected from Minnesota hospitals, licensed ambulatory surgical centers and community behavioral health hospitals from Oct. 7, 2022, to Oct. 6, 2023.
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