An adverse drug event (ADE) is an injury resulting from the use of a drug. ADEs in hospitals can be caused by medication errors, such as accidental overdoses or providing a drug to the wrong patient, or by adverse drug reactions, such as allergic reactions or excessive bleeding after treatment with the intended dose of a drug that prevents dangerous blood clots.
ADEs encompass a wide variety of HACs, and constituted over 30 percent of HACs identified in the 2010 study by the HHS Office of Inspector General (PDF - 3.35 MB). Patients in hospitals experience approximately 1.9 million ADEs annually. The severity of harm caused by ADEs ranges widely -- from little or no effects, to more serious effects, to even deaths from medications such as anticoagulants, insulin or narcotic pain medicines.
Goal: The Partnership for Patients estimates that 50 percent of the 1.9 million ADEs that occur in hospitals each year are preventable. The goal set for hospitals is to reduce preventable ADEs by 50 percent by 2013. Over three years, this would prevent 830,000 ADEs.
