It includes overpayments and underpayments, unnecessary services, coding errors and other problems.

FORBES: Move up http://i.forbesimg.com t Move down

The new study by Robert Polin, Michael Ash and Thomas Herndon from University of Massachusetts, which was made public this week, found coding errors in spreadsheets used in the 2010 study, which they said meant that growth did not fall as fast as was claimed when debt passed 90% of a country's gross domestic product (GDP).

BBC: Doubt cast on research supporting austerity

For instance, the Department of Veterans Affairs has started bar-coding all of its medicines to prevent errors.

FORBES: Magazine Article