Pressure ulcers, surgical site infections, and other hospital-acquired conditions are common preventable harms in hospitals. In 2008, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services stopped paying for care related to preventable hospital-acquired conditions. Investigators estimated the financial cost of those conditions using a national database. Added cost varied from $32,000 for a surgical site infection to $9000 for a hospital-acquired urinary tract infection. Certain conditions increased the total cost of the hospital stay by more than 50%. Patients with preventable hospital-acquired conditions were more likely to be readmitted within 90 days. A WebM&M commentary explored the cascade of events that can lead to a hospital-acquired bloodstream infection and how to prevent them.