Hospitals won't get to bill for errors

[rpannier]

Under pressure from large private insurers, state governments and Medicare, hospitals around the country are now agreeing not to charge when they make medical mistakes, also called "never events" because they shouldn't happen.

Though it may sound like a no-brainer not to charge patients who had surgery on the wrong body part or were disabled from the wrong medication, in the hospital world it is a revolution.

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That's beginning to change, experts say. Starting in October, Medicare, which covers 44 million elderly and disabled people, won't pay for treatment resulting from eight types of hospital errors, including surgical objects left in a patient during surgery, patient falls, catheter-caused urinary-tract infections and pressure sores, the most common preventable medical error.

Nor will hospitals be able to bill injured patients for these conditions. So a patient who in the course of treatment for a heart attack incurred pressure sores -- bedsores -- would be billed only for the cardiac treatment.


link:
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insurance/InsureYourHealth/HospitalsWontGetToBillForErrors.aspx