The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it is taking several actions to improve the quality of care in hospitals and reduce the number of “never events,” peventable medical errors that result in serious consequences for the patient.
“Never events cause serious injury or death to beneficiaries and result in unnecessary costs to Medicare and Medicaid due to the need to treat the consequences of the errors,” said CMS acting administrator Kerry Weems. “The steps taken today reflect our strong conviction that these events, in fact, should be prevented, and our commitment to protecting Medicare and Medicaid patients from them.”
A final acute care inpatient prospective payment (IPPS) rule that went on display last week at the Office of the Federal Register for publication Aug. 19, 2008 updates Medicare payments to hospitals for fiscal year (FY) 2009 and provides additional incentives for hospitals to improve the quality of care provided to people with Medicare. As part of these quality-of-care incentives, the rule includes payment provisions to reduce never events that occur in hospitals.
In addition to the final rule, CMS sent a letter to state Medicaid directors providing information about how states can adopt the same never events practices. The letter specifically encourages states to adopt the same non-payment policies outlined in the final Medicare rule. Nearly 20 states already have or are considering methods to eliminate payment for some never events.
