The Financial and Workforce Impact of Medication Errors in the Finnish Public Healthcare System: A Pilot Study.
Background: Medication errors (MEs) pose a significant challenge to patient safety and healthcare efficiency. In addition to clinical consequences, MEs contribute to increased healthcare expenditures and resource utilization. However, comprehensive cost assessments of MEs, including staff time and s...
| Published in: | Health Services Insights Vol. 19; pp. 1 - 8 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
| Format: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Published: |
Sage Publications Inc.
2/23/2026
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=191833486&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 191833486 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 11786329 B10H jtl: Health Services Insights issn: 11786329 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: 2/23/2026 vid: 19 pid: 344 pub: Sage Publications Inc. place: Thousand Oaks, California artinfo: ui: 191833486 191833486 191833486 10.1177/11786329261427522 191833486 ppf: 1 ppct: 7 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P tig: atl: The Financial and Workforce Impact of Medication Errors in the Finnish Public Healthcare System: A Pilot Study. aug: au: Kanninen, Jonna-Carita Ojala, Raimo Ahonen, Jouni Kautiainen, Hannu Holm, Anu Valkonen, Ville affil: Wellbeing Services County of North Savo, Hospital Pharmacy, Kuopio, Finland sug: subj: Health Services Administration Finland Hospitals, Public Finland Medication Errors Economics Workforce Evaluation Health Care Costs Medication Errors Prevention and Control Human Pilot Studies Cross Sectional Studies Finland Patient Safety Organizational Efficiency Health Expenditures Health Resource Utilization Cost Effectiveness Analysis Survey Research Psychological Well-Being Time Factors Adverse Drug Event Prevention and Control Descriptive Statistics Data Analysis Software Poisson Distribution Incidence Drugs, Prescription Administration and Dosage Documentation Drugs, Prescription Supply and Distribution Prescribing Patterns Supervisors and Supervision Incident Reports Liability, Legal Quality Improvement Guideline Adherence Confidence Intervals ab: Background: Medication errors (MEs) pose a significant challenge to patient safety and healthcare efficiency. In addition to clinical consequences, MEs contribute to increased healthcare expenditures and resource utilization. However, comprehensive cost assessments of MEs, including staff time and service costs, remain limited. Objectives: The aim of this pilot study is to examine the costs associated with MEs regionally and nationally in Finland. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: This study assessed the financial and resource burden of MEs in the Finnish public healthcare system using a survey conducted in the wellbeing services county of North Savo in Eastern Finland. The study perspective is economic and healthcare system-focused. Healthcare professionals in charge of patient safety reporting estimated the workforce impact of MEs by assessing the time spent, the corrective measures taken, and the additional interventions required to manage these events. Cost calculations were based on salary data from the 2023 financial administration statistics and service costs from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) database, adjusted to 2023 monetary value. An estimator, derived from regional data, was applied to extrapolate the nationwide economic burden of MEs. Results: Medication errors (MEs) impose a substantial financial burden, with an estimated mean cost of €138 per event and a total annual cost of €686 274 in the wellbeing services county of North Savo. Extrapolated to the national level, the annual impact was estimated at €15.5 million. The main cost drivers were the work time expenditures of nurses and physicians involved in managing these events. Conclusion: Managing MEs demands extra work of healthcare personnel, which is a considerable waste of resources. Most of the events are preventable. That is why effective safety strategies are needed, and prompt action taken to improve quality of care and reduce unnecessary costs. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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