Bracing themselves, no doubt, for Medicare's pending rules banning payment for some preventable problems, about half of Massachusetts hospitals are now waiving charges for serious medical errors.
A total of 33 of 61 hospitals reporting data to employer organization The Leapfrog Group told the group that they'd stopped charging for 28 "never events," such as wrong-site surgery, leaving a foreign object in a surgery patient and serious medication errors. Hospitals listed as having this policy include Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Caritas Christi Health Care and Tufts-New England Medical Center.
The hospitals are responding not only to pressure from Medicare--which is certainly potent on its own--but also to the local political climate. A state senator has recently filed legislation which would prohibit hospitals from charging for such events.
To get more information on this trend:
- read this piece from The Boston Globe
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