CONCORD, N.H. — New Hampshire hospitals are making progress in reducing both errors and unnecessary readmissions, according to new federal data.

The federal Department of Health and Human Services released a report this month estimating that the 3,700 hospitals across the country participating in the Partnership for Patients program prevented 1.3 million patient harms and readmissions and saved more than $12 billion in health spending. The report found a 17 percent decline in preventable infections, drug errors and falls from 2010 to 2013. Using methods developed by health care quality experts, it estimated that 50,000 fewer patients died in the hospital and about $12 billion in health care costs was saved.

Some of New Hampshire’s biggest gains came in fewer patients experiencing pressure ulcers, fewer injuries from falls, fewer adverse drug events and fewer post-surgery infections, the New Hampshire Hospital Association said. From 2011 through June of this year, New Hampshire hospitals saw 4,300 fewer readmissions compared to before the initiative began. Those efforts translate into a savings of more than $40 million, the hospital association said.

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