Hospital Error Rules Tightened by CMS
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) unveiled a new rule to expand the list of “never” events, such incidents are deemed preventable errors. Under rules unveiled previously, described on HospitalBuyer, the federal agency announced that it will no longer reimburse hospitals for costs incurred as a result of these preventable events. CMS issued a press release describing the new rule.
The conditions that will be added to the list of “never events” include ventilator-associated pneumonia, DVT/PE, iatrogenic pneumothorax, Legionnaires’ disease, surgical site infections following certain elective procedures, delirium, extreme blood sugar derangement, staphylococcus aureus septicemia, and C. diff associated disease.
An additional component of the new rule from the CMS is an expansion of the list of quality measures, linking the quality of care delivery to remuneration. Hospitals will be required to include complete reports related to these new items in order to receive complete payments for services provided. It is estimated that the expansion will save CMS approximately $50 million each year over the next three years.
The new benchmarks required for quality reporting cover the following categories: AHRQ patient safety measures, stroke measures, cardiac surgery measures, nursing care, surgical care improvement, hospital readmissions, venous thromboembolism measures, and AHRQ inpatient quality indicators.
By implementing these new rules, CMS is ensuring the commitment to the delivery of quality care for patients who carry Medicare coverage. This further supports efficiency in healthcare practice. This new rule would commence October 1st, which is the beginning of the 2009 fiscal year for the federal government.
Other data, from the Institute of Medicine, indicates that approximately 98,000 deaths result every year from patient errors. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention attributed $5 billion in annual healthcare costs to hospital-acquired infections.
Other data from the HealthGrades annual study of Patient Safety indicates that errors and related patient safety incidents cost Medicare about $8.8 million between 2004 and 2006. Over 230,000 deaths could have been prevented.
April 18, 2008 Related topics: Quality, Safety, Errors