Even in best-run centers, preventable medication errors lengthen LOS, increase costs.

Preventing adverse drug events. Adverse drug events aren't always fatal, but they invariably add to length of stay and health care costs. Boston researchers estimate that adverse drug events cost a 700-bed teaching hospital about $5.6 million annually, $2.8 million of which is preventable. Albany Medical Center looked closer at factors that contribute to adverse drug events, putting in place a medication error detection program that prevented 2,100 errors in one year.