A government study released last week shows that often-preventable injuries and complications that occur in U.S. hospitals lead to longer in-patient stays, thousands of deaths, and billions of dollars in excess charges. Although the study doesn't evaluate ways of preventing these errors, some health-care executives and government officials say IT can help reduce the risks. "There are some mistakes that technology probably can't help, like leaving a foreign object in a body during surgery," says Dr. Eduardo Ortiz of the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. "But there are mistakes that can be avoided through the help of technologies like decision-support systems and electronic medical records."
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