The Adverse Patient Occurrences Inventory: validity, reliability, and implications.

The Adverse Patient Occurrences (APO) Inventory, a quality of care screening instrument, was tested for validity and reliability. A positive relationship was found between the relative proportion of adverse events experienced by patients with diagnoses in two diagnosis-related groups and their hospital costs and lengths of stay. As hospitals strive to provide efficient care, they will require measures such as the APO instrument to assess the quality of care they give. Such information can also help hospitals meet regulatory agencies' requirements.