Medicare cuts payments to 1 in 7 hospitals for rate of 'hospital-acquired conditions'

One out of every seven hospitals in the nation will have their Medicare payments lowered by 1 percent over the fiscal year that began Oct. 1 and continues through September 2015 as a result of medical errors, the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services announced this week (Source: “Medicare Cuts Payments To 721 Hospitals With Highest Rates Of Infections, Injuries,” Kaiser Health News, Dec. 18, 2014).

The ACA mandates the reductions for the quarter of hospitals that Medicare assessed as having the highest rates of “hospital-acquired conditions,” or HACs.  These conditions include infections from catheters, blood clots, bed sores and other complications that are considered avoidable.

Medicare assessed these new penalties against 721 hospitals, including some of the most renowned hospitals in the nation, including the Cleveland Clinic, Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pa.