The federal government’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services may stop paying hospitals for the extra care related to specific preventable medical errors such as an object left in a patient during surgery, hospital-acquired infections, or pressure ulcers according to a report in Manged Care Magazine. As chronicled in the report, the usual suspects are lining up for and against the proposed rule. The government, business, health plans and consumers support the proposed rule, while hospitals are saying that they are already struggling financially and will find it difficult to bear these new costs. “One study, reviewing 18 types of medical events, concluded that medical errors may account for 2.4 million extra hospital days, $9.3 billion in excess charges for all payers, including private plans, and 32,600 deaths in one year,” according to the report.
This is definitely an idea whose time has come and it could gain some serious political momentum. No one wants to bankrupt hospitals, but just like in most other value exchanges, no one wants to pay for mistakes either. The drive for health care accountability is getting palpable and for the right reasons.
