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The European Journal of Health Economics
Published in: The European Journal of Health Economics 1/2006

01-03-2006 | Original Papers

Case-control analysis of the financial cost of medication errors in hospitalized patients

Authors: Jaime Pinilla, Carles Murillo, Genís Carrasco, Carlos Humet

Published in: The European Journal of Health Economics | Issue 1/2006

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Abstract

The cost of medication errors (MEs), and by extension their impact on the running of hospitals, is generally unknown to hospital managers. This study estimated the financial costs involved in the additional use of hospital resources as a result of MEs. For this we used a database covering 20,014 hospital admissions, with clinical and personal information about each patient, the costs related to his/her stay, and physicians’ prescriptions. Analyses were carried out using cases and control techniques to calculate the additional cost of MEs. During the study period, 2001, the analysis indicated that the MEs analyzed caused an additional 303 days of hospital stay, with an overall annual cost of nearly €76,000. Our study confirms that MEs are a costly reality. The presence of MEs doubled the cost per patient.
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Metadata
Title
Case-control analysis of the financial cost of medication errors in hospitalized patients
Authors
Jaime Pinilla
Carles Murillo
Genís Carrasco
Carlos Humet
Publication date
01-03-2006
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
The European Journal of Health Economics / Issue 1/2006
Print ISSN: 1618-7598
Electronic ISSN: 1618-7601
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10198-005-0332-z

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