WASHINGTON (AP) — The government says hospitals are becoming safer for patients due to a quality improvement partnership between industry and federal agencies.

A report out Wednesday from Health and Human Services finds that adverse events such as medication mistakes, falls and infections went down by 9 percent from 2010 to 2012, the latest year that such statistics were available.

That prevented nearly 15,000 deaths and saved $4 billion in costs, the report estimated.

Separately, a key quality indicator for Medicare patients also showed continued improvement: Readmission rates declined in 2013 for the second year in a row.

Under President Barack Obama’s health care law hospitals can face financial penalties if too many Medicare beneficiaries are readmitted within 30 days of an initial hospitalization.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.