--- title: U.S. Hospitals Saved 50,000 Lives From 2010 to 2013 by Fewer Errors description: Hospitals saw a 17% decline in hospital-acquired conditions from 2010 to 2013 due to improved patient safety, saving 50,000 lives canonical: https://time.com/3614815/hospital-patient-safety-errors/ author: Jack Linshi article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-02T22:58:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T02:31:10.740Z article:section: Health og:title: Fewer Errors in U.S. Hospitals Saved 50,000 Lives Between 2010 and 2013 og:description: Improved patient safety also saved $12 billion in health spending og:url: https://time.com/3614815/hospital-patient-safety-errors/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Fewer Errors in U.S. Hospitals Saved 50,000 Lives Between 2010 and 2013 twitter:description: Improved patient safety also saved $12 billion in health spending twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Fewer Errors in U.S. Hospitals Saved 50,000 Lives Between 2010 and 2013  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Dec 2, 2014 10:58 PM UTC  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Dec 2, 2014 10:58 PM UTC Hospitals in the United States saw a 17% decline in hospital-acquired conditions between 2010 and 2013 due to a marked improvement in patient safety, saving an estimated 50,000 lives and billions of dollars, the Department of Health and Human Services said in a report released Tuesday. In the three-year period, there were 1.3 million fewer “patient harms,” the [report](http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2014pres/12/20141202a.html) found, and $12 billion was saved in health spending as a result of fewer mistakes. Hospital errors can cause patients to contract infections or experience adverse drug effects, among other preventable medical problems. The department partly attributed the improvement in hospital safety to provisions in federal law, such as the Affordable Care Act, which provides financial incentives for doctors to reduce hospital-acquired infections. The mistakes have especially been under policymakers’ scrutiny since the Institute of Medicine published a 1999 [report](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/to%5Ferr%5Fis%5Fhuman%5F1999%5F%5Freport%5Fbrief.pdf) that claimed up to 98,000 people died annually as a result of medical errors in American hospitals. Speaking at the CMS Healthcare Quality Conference, HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell [called](http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/news/2014/12/02/u-s-health-secretary-stresses-need-for-better.html) the drop “a big deal” but added that “it’s only a start.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3614815/hospital-patient-safety-errors/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3614815/hospital-patient-safety-errors/"},"headline":"Fewer Errors in U.S. Hospitals Saved 50,000 Lives Between 2010 and 2013","datePublished":"2014-12-02T22:58:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:31:10.740Z","description":"Improved patient safety also saved $12 billion in health spending","url":"https://time.com/3614815/hospital-patient-safety-errors/","keywords":["Healthcare"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Linshi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/healthcare/","name":"Healthcare"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3614815/hospital-patient-safety-errors/","name":"Fewer Errors in U.S. Hospitals Saved 50,000 Lives Between 2010 and 2013"}}]}] ```