March 19th 2008
Government and Insurance Companies Solution to Fixing Medical Error Problem that Kills 98,000 every year – Stop Paying for Care Needed to Fix Mistakes
Common sense has finally taken hold with a realistic solution to stopping the 98,000 deaths that result from medical errors each year. The Dennis Quaid story on 60 Minutes has thrust the medical error problem in this country into the media spot light. I was watching the CBS evening news Monday night and saw a report that the federal government – specifically Medicare – and several insurance companies have pledged to stop paying for the bills associated with medical care given to fix certain preventable medical mistakes. My wife Shelly’s reaction to this was – Duh! Why have they paid in the past?
Beginning in October 2008 Medicare will no longer pay for eight hospital mistakes – including:
- Urinary infection from catheter
- Bed sores
- Surgical object left in body
- Air embolism
- Giving wrong type of blood
- Blood infection from catheter
- Chest infection after bypass surgery
- Hospital – caused injury
Medicare believes that if they stop paying for mistakes then hospitals will stop making them. Sure makes good sense to me.
The State of Pennsylvania’s Medicare system is already refusing to pay for 27 “never events” including surgery on the wrong body part and medication leading to injury or death. Hospitals and doctors should pay for fixing their mistakes not the patients. In the past 2 years as a result not paying for mistakes Pennsylvania hospitals are seeing fewer mistakes and fewer deaths. Pennsylvania hospitals and doctors have put better safety measures in place – like 40 question pre-surgery checklists – to help prevent medical errors from happening in the first place. The quickest way to enact change is to make it unprofitable – you gotta love capitalism!
Washington should follow Pennsylvania’s lead and make sure all insurance companies stop paying for preventable medical errors.
Source: CBS Evening News – March 17, 2008
