Starting next year, if a surgeon leaves an instrument inside a patient, Medicare won't cover the cost of fixing that mistake.
Under new rules issued in the beginning of August, Medicare will no longer pay for the costs of what it considers "preventable" conditions acquired in the hospital. These include everything from certain types of hospital-acquired infections, to patients who are given transfusions with the wrong blood type, to bed sores.
Instead, the hospitals themselves will have to cover these costs (since the rules also prevent them from billing the patient).
Consumer advocates believe the change will give hospitals a much stronger incentive to try to prevent those mistakes in the first place.
"Every year, millions of Americans suffer needlessly from preventable hospital infections and medical errors," said Lisa McGiffert, director of Consumers Union's Stop Hospital Infections campaign, in a statement.
"These new rules are a good beginning for Medicare to use its clout to mobilize hospitals to improve care and keep patients safe."
The biggest impact could be on hospitals' efforts to prevent infections.
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Under new rules issued in the beginning of August, Medicare will no longer pay for the costs of what it considers "preventable" conditions acquired in the hospital. These include everything from certain types of hospital-acquired infections, to patients who are given transfusions with the wrong blood type, to bed sores.
Instead, the hospitals themselves will have to cover these costs (since the rules also prevent them from billing the patient).
Consumer advocates believe the change will give hospitals a much stronger incentive to try to prevent those mistakes in the first place.
"Every year, millions of Americans suffer needlessly from preventable hospital infections and medical errors," said Lisa McGiffert, director of Consumers Union's Stop Hospital Infections campaign, in a statement.
"These new rules are a good beginning for Medicare to use its clout to mobilize hospitals to improve care and keep patients safe."
The biggest impact could be on hospitals' efforts to prevent infections.
Discuss Add this link to... Bury
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