Feds reverse course, will release hospital mistake data

Federal regulators are reversing course and will resume publicly releasing data on hospital mistakes, including when foreign objects are left in patients' bodies or patients were give the wrong blood type. USA Today reported last month that CMS had stopped publicly reporting a host of life-threatening mistakes, after denying in 2013 that it would do so. CMS now says it will make data on eight hospital-acquired conditions (HACs) available on its website. The data were removed last summer from CMS’ hospital comparison site but kept on a public spreadsheet that could be accessed by quality researchers, patient-safety advocates, and members of the public who could translate it.

Source: USA Today