Hmmm…preventable issues

I am just c/ping the first part of this newsletter I was forwarded from “Cookie Gimp”. I thought it was interesting, period, about Medicare stopping payment on preventable issues such as bed sores (ie anything occurring after patient gets into hospital that was not pre-existing)….since they have a valid point there….at least it seems to me…the question is how hospitals are going to step up and and deal with these issues now that they have a much greater financial incentive to prevent these problems.

Also interesting for this man to point out that nursing homes are typically much worse than hospitals about such things.

From: SteveGoldADA@cs.com
To: stevegoldada@stevegoldada.com
Sent: Mon 6/10/08 10:39 AM
Subject: Fwd: Stop Paying Nursing Homes That Injure Elderly and Disabled People

Stop Paying Nursing Homes That Injure Elderly and Disabled People.
Information Bulletin #264 (10/08)

On October 1, 2008 Medicare announced that it would stop paying hospitals
for injuring patients. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
listed 10 “reasonably preventable” conditions for which it would no longer
pay hospitals.

These “preventable” conditions included injuries from patients who fell
in the hospital, catheter-associated infections, stage 3 and 4 pressure
ulcers (aka bed sores).

Why has CMS not addressed “reasonably preventable” conditions and injuries
that nursing homes cause elderly and disabled persons? Why has CMS not
instructed States to stop Medicaid payments to those nursing homes that
cause specific injuries? Why is this standard applied only to hospitals?

Oct 13, 2008 | Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none