Long Island Newsday Examines Medicare Rule That Will Deny Payment To Hospitals For Preventable Errors

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 31 Aug 2007 - 2:00 PDT

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Long Island Newsday on Wednesday examined a new rule from CMS that will deny reimbursements to hospitals for preventable errors that occur while patients are in their care, a move that advocates believe will encourage better quality and help reduce avoidable injury and infection rates.

Hospital-acquired infections are the most common cause of preventable patient harm, with CDC estimating that 1.7 million U.S. residents are infected in hospitals annually and that about 100,000 people die from hospital-acquired infections, Newsday reports. The Manhattan-based advocacy group Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths estimates that preventable hospital-acquired infections cost hospitals $30 billion annually.

Maureen Daly, RID's volunteer coordinator, said, "It's great that Medicare is taking this step" (Ricks, Long Island Newsday, 8/29). The new policy, proposed in April and mandated by a 2005 law, will take effect in October 2008 (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 8/20).

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