No surprise here, but adverse events that harm patients are not being reported by hospitals as required by law.  A report to be released today by the Inspector General of the Department of Health & Human Services says that only 1 out of 7 adverse events in the nation's hospitals are reported to the government, in violation of Medicare regulations.  Events that are required to be reported include medication errors, severe bedsores (also called decubitus ulcers), hospital-acquired infections, delirium resulting from excessive use of painkillers and bleeding due to improper use of blood thinners.  

As a condition of receiving Medicare funds, hospitals are required to track and report certain specified accidents that harm patients.  In the study, as reported in today's New York Times, it was reported that "hospitals made few changes to policies or practices" as a result of reports of adverse events.  

The Inspector General's office had independent physicians review the medical charts of 293 cases in which patients had been harmed.  Only 40 of the cases had been reported to hospital managers, 28 were investigated by the hospitals, but only 5 led to changes in policies or procedures.  

Colorado is one of 27 states that require hospitals to report publicly on infection rates.  That information can be found by clicking here.  Scroll down the panel on the left side of the page for specifical hospital or surgery site infection information.