In an effort to keep down costs and encourage providers to give better care, Medicare will not pay for “reasonably preventable” medical errors, including second surgeries to remove sponges left in patients, infections that develop after certain surgeries, and bed sores. Medicare has compiled a list of 10 such conditions. (Source)
Hospitals also will be prevented from directly billing patients for costs associated with medical errors. Taxpayer-supported and private insurers are following Medicare’s lead. Pay-for-performance measures, quality reporting, and withholding payment for preventable errors probably won’t save a significant amount of money, but they likely will improve quality of care and reduce medical errors.
In related news, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today that it will increase efforts to find and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare. Kerry Weems, CMS acting administrator said, “By enhancing our oversight efforts we can better ensure that Medicare dollars are being used to pay for equipment or services that beneficiaries actually received while protecting them and the Medicare trust fund from unscrupulous providers and suppliers.”
Companies and individuals with higher billings for Medicare services will get the most scrutiny.
