Reducing Hospital-Acquired Conditions

Reducing hospital-acquired conditions (HACs) is an important patient safety goal, because HACs cause harm to patients. They are conditions that a patient develops while in the hospital being treated for something else.

AHRQ’s patient safety research formed the foundation of the methods, tools, and resources that many hospitals and other frontline clinicians use to reduce HACs. AHRQ also developed a measurement strategy to show how well the Nation is doing at reducing HACs.

AHRQ National Scorecard on Rates of Hospital Acquired Conditions