A recent analysis by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) indicates that employers pay out almost $1.5 billion each year to cover the costs incurred from preventable adverse medical events in surgical patients.

The costs of surgical errors were estimated by analyzing data from a nationwide sample of more than 161,000 adult patients who underwent surgery in 2001 and 2002.

Preventable errors included technical problems, infections, pulmonary and vascular problems, acute respiratory failure, metabolic problems, wound problems, and events related to nursing care. Respiratory failure and infections were particularly costly adverse events; insurers paid over $28,000 and over $19,000 extra for a surgical patient who had respiratory failure or an infection, respectively.

Other added costs included more than $12,000 for episodes related to nursing care, more than $11,500 for metabolic problems, close to $8,000 for pulmonary and vascular problems, and nearly $1,500 for wound problems.