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 Preventable Errors Hit Healthcare Providers' Wallets
Starting in October of 2008, Medicare will no longer reimburse hospitals for many preventable errors. Currently, when a provider’s error causes injuries to a Medicare patient, the bill is still paid for by Medicare which equates to tens of millions of dollars each year. In fact, a single incident can cost Medicare between $10,000 and $100,000.
Urinary tract infections from catheter use are one of the incidents that will no longer be covered. Urinary tract infections are fatal to about 100,000 Americans every year. The incurred expense of urinary tract infections is about $451 million each year.
The preventable errors that will no longer be covered as of October 2008 are:
- Infections that occur as a results of blood lines
- Infections following Coronary Bypass Surgery
- Catheter Urinary Tract Infections
- Injuries from falls
- Objects left in the body during surgery
- Reactions from blood transfusions that occur when patient receive the wrong type of blood
- Air embolisms that invade the blood stream
- Bed sores
Healthcare providers will not be able to pass the expense on to patients. Medicare insures about 44 million elderly or disabled Americans, and therefore the expected savings from this new rule is expected to be $190 million over the next five years. In 2009, Medicare is expected to apply this same policy to pneumonia that happens to ventilated patients and drug-resistant staph infections.
If you would like to know more information about the preventable errors that will no longer be covered by Medicare, contact us to learn more about our medical legal consulting services at paulette@medicaljurisprudence.com or call us at 630-551-0978.
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